#19 Read About Anthropomorphism - Functions of Trees & People
By Len Phillips, updated January 2023
Sections You may go directly to the section by clicking on titles listed here.
By Len Phillips, updated January 2023
Sections You may go directly to the section by clicking on titles listed here.
With global warming becoming more established as a fact, trees are gaining importance as a major player in the solution to cooling down the planet. But how much do people really know about trees. Perhaps this study will help. This is a study about anthropomorphism, a fancy word for the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities such as trees. This article will provide a comparison of over 200 features or functions that people and trees have in common and will illustrate that a tree is just as complex an organism as a person and because of these similarities, trees and plants deserve a lot more respect from people than we now give them. I hope this study provides a new perspective on the relationship between trees and people.
Scholars have thought about evolution for several centuries. One early example is a book, written by John Case (c.1660–1700). He was an English writer on anatomy who wrote “Compendium Anatomicum nova methodo institutum”, which was written in Latin and published in 1695. This book pointed out that many features of a man could be also found in a tree. In 1880 John Davey founded The Davey Tree Expert Company on the basis of his research and practical applications of tree surgery. John believed the health of a tree, like that of a human being, could be maintained through scientific means.
Scholars have thought about evolution for several centuries. One early example is a book, written by John Case (c.1660–1700). He was an English writer on anatomy who wrote “Compendium Anatomicum nova methodo institutum”, which was written in Latin and published in 1695. This book pointed out that many features of a man could be also found in a tree. In 1880 John Davey founded The Davey Tree Expert Company on the basis of his research and practical applications of tree surgery. John believed the health of a tree, like that of a human being, could be maintained through scientific means.
Introduction
We know that people are at the top of the animal kingdom and trees are at the top of the plant kingdom.
For thousands of years the goal of all living things has been to survive and reproduce.
However, since we all evolved on the same planet,
I discovered that people and trees have many common life-style features.
Because of these similarities trees and plants deserve a lot more respect from people than we now give them.
Note: This Topic is a work in progress. If you, the reader, have additional comparisons or corrections, please contact me.
In the beginning, the only living things on Planet Earth were single-cell bacteria. They were the only life on earth for billions of years. Then larger cells evolved, and this was followed by plants and trees and eventually by animals, including humans. But the bacteria never went away and all the plants and animals learned to live with them and use them for their own benefit. Mankind has also learned what trees already knew about how to use bacteria to help grow and fight pests and diseases.
People and animals have and share many emotions as we all know, but did you know that trees and plants also have and share emotions. However, the communication and shared emotions between people and trees is not known at this time. People do love to "hug a tree" and sit in the shade of a tree. But researchers are now finding out how trees communicate, we just do not know their language, yet.
As will be illustrated in this study, trees have a complexity that humans are unwilling to accept or do not yet understand. Within the next century or two, trees and other plants will outlive people because global warming and climate change will increase the high amount of carbon in the air. This will encourage plant growth and unfortunately it will also cause death to all creatures needing oxygen to survive. At the present time, tree and plant growth are not able to utilize all the carbon in the air generated by fossil fuel consumption and this is resulting in global warming. And it is going to get worse unless global pressure forces people to reduce the use of fossil fuels and reduce increases in atmospheric carbon and increase the number of trees where they live.
We know that people are at the top of the animal kingdom and trees are at the top of the plant kingdom.
For thousands of years the goal of all living things has been to survive and reproduce.
However, since we all evolved on the same planet,
I discovered that people and trees have many common life-style features.
Because of these similarities trees and plants deserve a lot more respect from people than we now give them.
Note: This Topic is a work in progress. If you, the reader, have additional comparisons or corrections, please contact me.
In the beginning, the only living things on Planet Earth were single-cell bacteria. They were the only life on earth for billions of years. Then larger cells evolved, and this was followed by plants and trees and eventually by animals, including humans. But the bacteria never went away and all the plants and animals learned to live with them and use them for their own benefit. Mankind has also learned what trees already knew about how to use bacteria to help grow and fight pests and diseases.
People and animals have and share many emotions as we all know, but did you know that trees and plants also have and share emotions. However, the communication and shared emotions between people and trees is not known at this time. People do love to "hug a tree" and sit in the shade of a tree. But researchers are now finding out how trees communicate, we just do not know their language, yet.
As will be illustrated in this study, trees have a complexity that humans are unwilling to accept or do not yet understand. Within the next century or two, trees and other plants will outlive people because global warming and climate change will increase the high amount of carbon in the air. This will encourage plant growth and unfortunately it will also cause death to all creatures needing oxygen to survive. At the present time, tree and plant growth are not able to utilize all the carbon in the air generated by fossil fuel consumption and this is resulting in global warming. And it is going to get worse unless global pressure forces people to reduce the use of fossil fuels and reduce increases in atmospheric carbon and increase the number of trees where they live.
Life Cycle
Cells
All living things, plant and animal, are made up of the almost identical microscopic building block called the cell. The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all life. This is because plants and animals both belong to the classification domain Eukaryota which are organisms with cells that are basically sealed full of fluid suspending organelles (organs within cells), which have different jobs in the cell, depending on the needs of the organism. The nucleus contains all the DNA and all the instructions for making a particular cell into a person or a tree. Even though their cells are constructed similarly, people and trees do have different cellular settings. A really obvious difference is in the outer shell of the cell.
People – The basic cells of people are contained within the thin cell membrane that provides nothing in the way of structure, but it can regulate what comes in and out of the cell, and it can keep all the organelles contained within it. The organelles help people form structures like organs, bones, muscles and nerves.
Trees – In addition to a cell membrane, trees have firm cell walls made out of tough compounds called cellulose and plant tissue. Basically, tree cells are the same except for the people's thinner and more flexible cell walls.
People – People require oxygen made by plants to survive, because people cannot make food. They have to eat plants and animals to survive. This requires movement, which made it necessary for animals to evolve with specialized cells, tissues and organs that a plant does not need.
Trees – It is a tree leaf's job to take carbon dioxide out of the air which people have exhaled as a waste and add a little sunlight and water containing nutrients absorbed by the roots in order to make all the food that trees need to survive.
People – One organelle that trees do not have are the sensory organs that help people get out of the way of a fire or sniff out and hunt down a potential meal.
Trees – One organelle that people do not have is the chloroplast, which allows almost all plants and trees to photosynthesize, or make sunlight into glucose compounds. All green comes from the chloroplasts in the plant cells which turns carbon and water exposed to sunlight into food.
Name
People – A person's name is composed of words by which we get to know who the person is. We learn to recognize people by specific characteristics such as facial expressions, their size, race, voice, or walk which makes one person different from other people, and this permits identification.
Trees – A tree's name is composed of words that make them different from other trees. We learn to recognize trees by specific characteristics such as tree size, the flower, their leaf shape and color in all the changing seasons, the way the leaves are attached to the stem, their branching structure, their favorite soil and climate locations, their bark color and texture, their family of similar trees, and any other features that bring an identity of its own and which permit identification and the separation from other trees.
Location
People – People live in just about every environment on the Earth from cold regions of the polar climates to the hottest climates around the equator.
Trees – Trees can be found growing in just about every environment on the Earth from cold regions of the polar climates to the hottest climates around the equator.
Genetic Code
People – The strategies to reproduce and grow are programmed into a genetic code. People have a very complex genetic code passed down by our parents that dictates our features, health, personality, structure, and function, all according to a genetic code. Despite the same basic human genetic code, every individual person is somewhat different in appearance, experience, and function.
Trees – The genetic code of all plants is expressed as the tree's structure and function. A tree makes food as well as seeds, bark, leaves, roots, and wood, all according to its genetic code, passed down by its parents. Despite the same genetic code, every individual tree and plant is somewhat different in appearance, experience, and function.
People – Humans have between 20,000 – 25,000 genes. Other than the fact that people and trees both have genes, the number is a subject in which humans and trees are not similar.
Trees – The sequencing of the completed genome of a black walnut (Populus trichocarpa) tree has 45,000 genes, while the domesticated apple (Malus sp.) has 50,000 genes, which is more than any other plant studied to date.
People – The human genetic code can be edited by a tool called CRISPR that is being used to fight viruses and tackle challenges including disease, food production, and environmental sustainability. This editing process is also called genetic modification.
Trees – The genetic code of trees and other plants are edited in a laboratory using the system CRISPR-CAS9 to modify the genes of fruits, grains, and vegetables to fight off diseases, pests, rots, and improve food quality. This editing process is called genetic modification.
People and Trees – People and trees are solitary individuals who compete for space and resources. They are both indifferent to others. People and trees both live in a vast, ancient and intricate society.
People – People have needs and respond in many ways to impulses. The human body is an operating creation that is designed to take in nutrients to grow, breathe, communicate, recover from disease and injury, reproduce, and die.
Trees – Trees have needs and respond in many ways to their impulses. A tree is an operating creation that is designed to take in nutrients to grow, breathe, communicate, recover from disease and injury, reproduce, and die.
People – People need resources to survive. Resources tend to flow from the oldest to the youngest people and the biggest to the smallest person. People also need and share blood with those in need.
Trees – Trees need resources to survive. Resources tend to flow from the oldest to the youngest trees and the biggest to the smallest trees. Trees also need and share carbon with those in need.
People – People's brains will guide their decisions about where to grow and how to deal with disease and climate.
Trees – Trees do not have a brain like people. Instead, trees have millions of tiny sensors at the tips of their roots that dictate how the roots will grow and how the tree will deal with soil, pests, and climate.
People – People have neurotransmitters in their brains that are often referred to as the body's chemical messengers. They are the molecules used by the nervous system to transmit messages between neurons, or from neurons to muscles. The human brain has approximately 80 billion nerve cells, called neurons. (A neuron is a grayish or reddish granular cell that is the fundamental functional unit of nervous tissue transmitting and receiving nerve impulses and having cytoplasmic processes which are highly differentiated frequently as multiple dendrites or usually as solitary axons which conduct impulses to and away from the cell body.) Neurotransmitters are like chemical words, sending “messages” from one neuron to another.
Trees – Trees use neurotransmitters and mycorrhizae attached to their roots to signal stress and probably many other functions unknown at this time but are currently being studied by scientists.
People – People have a love of a bright blue sky over a canopy of lush green trees and feel very relaxed with a walk in nature.
Trees – Trees have a love of a bright blue sky over a canopy of lush green trees and can produce maximum output of food from photosynthesis.
Social Interaction
People – People are selfless and help others in need the same way that bees will die by stinging an invader seeking the honey stored for everyone in the hive. People have a vast and ancient society. They experienced conflict and growth and depend on others for survival. They help each other regardless of species or nationality, and size.
Trees – Trees share food with trees in need via the transfer by symbiotic fungi. Trees reciprocate and can feed, inform, and rejuvenate other trees. Trees have a vast and ancient society. They experienced conflict and growth and depend on the other for survival. They help each other regardless of species or nationality, and size.
Inbreeding
People – Inbreeding is unacceptable and is simply defined as the mating of relatives. It is a mating system in which individuals carry genes that originated from a common ancestor. Inbreeding is considered a problem in humans because inbreeding increases the chances of receiving a recessive gene inherited from a common ancestor. The odds of inheriting rare genetic diseases goes up exponentially among children who are the result of inbreeding. Since inbreeding raises the risk that bad copies of a gene will be expressed, inbred progeny suffers from reduced viability.
Trees – Inbreeding is also unacceptable in the forest but it is called self-incompatibility. The majority of species are hermaphroditic, meaning trees possess both male and female reproductive organs, sometimes in the same flower, sometimes in separate flowers, and sometime in separate trees, depending on the species. Since many trees produce male or female flowers only, the risk of inbreeding is extremely low. It is the pollen-recognition system that enables trees to avoid the inbreeding caused by self-pollination. It involves a pair of tightly linked genes known as the S locus. Since inbreeding raises the risk that bad copies of a gene will be expressed, inbred progeny suffers from rot caused by the fungus Diplodia seriata resulting in reduced viability.
People – Cross breeding of distant family members and by nationality is acceptable.
Trees – Cross breeding of trees by family members within the same species is acceptable.
History
People – People are currently the superior survival organisms within the animal kingdom and have roamed the earth for about 6 million years. However, the impending climate change will result in high temperatures and high carbon levels in the atmosphere, that people and many animals are not likely to survive.
Trees – Trees are currently the superior survival organism within the plant kingdom. They have grown on the earth for at least 4.5 billion years. Trees and other plants will probably continue to survive despite climate change because the high amount of carbon in the air from burning fossil fuels will encourage plant growth. However, current tree and plant species may not be able to utilize all the carbon in the air that people generated from fossil fuel consumption. This may result in the globe becoming a forest of tropical plants with no living animals.
Cells
All living things, plant and animal, are made up of the almost identical microscopic building block called the cell. The cell is the basic structural and functional unit of all life. This is because plants and animals both belong to the classification domain Eukaryota which are organisms with cells that are basically sealed full of fluid suspending organelles (organs within cells), which have different jobs in the cell, depending on the needs of the organism. The nucleus contains all the DNA and all the instructions for making a particular cell into a person or a tree. Even though their cells are constructed similarly, people and trees do have different cellular settings. A really obvious difference is in the outer shell of the cell.
People – The basic cells of people are contained within the thin cell membrane that provides nothing in the way of structure, but it can regulate what comes in and out of the cell, and it can keep all the organelles contained within it. The organelles help people form structures like organs, bones, muscles and nerves.
Trees – In addition to a cell membrane, trees have firm cell walls made out of tough compounds called cellulose and plant tissue. Basically, tree cells are the same except for the people's thinner and more flexible cell walls.
People – People require oxygen made by plants to survive, because people cannot make food. They have to eat plants and animals to survive. This requires movement, which made it necessary for animals to evolve with specialized cells, tissues and organs that a plant does not need.
Trees – It is a tree leaf's job to take carbon dioxide out of the air which people have exhaled as a waste and add a little sunlight and water containing nutrients absorbed by the roots in order to make all the food that trees need to survive.
People – One organelle that trees do not have are the sensory organs that help people get out of the way of a fire or sniff out and hunt down a potential meal.
Trees – One organelle that people do not have is the chloroplast, which allows almost all plants and trees to photosynthesize, or make sunlight into glucose compounds. All green comes from the chloroplasts in the plant cells which turns carbon and water exposed to sunlight into food.
Name
People – A person's name is composed of words by which we get to know who the person is. We learn to recognize people by specific characteristics such as facial expressions, their size, race, voice, or walk which makes one person different from other people, and this permits identification.
Trees – A tree's name is composed of words that make them different from other trees. We learn to recognize trees by specific characteristics such as tree size, the flower, their leaf shape and color in all the changing seasons, the way the leaves are attached to the stem, their branching structure, their favorite soil and climate locations, their bark color and texture, their family of similar trees, and any other features that bring an identity of its own and which permit identification and the separation from other trees.
Location
People – People live in just about every environment on the Earth from cold regions of the polar climates to the hottest climates around the equator.
Trees – Trees can be found growing in just about every environment on the Earth from cold regions of the polar climates to the hottest climates around the equator.
Genetic Code
People – The strategies to reproduce and grow are programmed into a genetic code. People have a very complex genetic code passed down by our parents that dictates our features, health, personality, structure, and function, all according to a genetic code. Despite the same basic human genetic code, every individual person is somewhat different in appearance, experience, and function.
Trees – The genetic code of all plants is expressed as the tree's structure and function. A tree makes food as well as seeds, bark, leaves, roots, and wood, all according to its genetic code, passed down by its parents. Despite the same genetic code, every individual tree and plant is somewhat different in appearance, experience, and function.
People – Humans have between 20,000 – 25,000 genes. Other than the fact that people and trees both have genes, the number is a subject in which humans and trees are not similar.
Trees – The sequencing of the completed genome of a black walnut (Populus trichocarpa) tree has 45,000 genes, while the domesticated apple (Malus sp.) has 50,000 genes, which is more than any other plant studied to date.
People – The human genetic code can be edited by a tool called CRISPR that is being used to fight viruses and tackle challenges including disease, food production, and environmental sustainability. This editing process is also called genetic modification.
Trees – The genetic code of trees and other plants are edited in a laboratory using the system CRISPR-CAS9 to modify the genes of fruits, grains, and vegetables to fight off diseases, pests, rots, and improve food quality. This editing process is called genetic modification.
People and Trees – People and trees are solitary individuals who compete for space and resources. They are both indifferent to others. People and trees both live in a vast, ancient and intricate society.
People – People have needs and respond in many ways to impulses. The human body is an operating creation that is designed to take in nutrients to grow, breathe, communicate, recover from disease and injury, reproduce, and die.
Trees – Trees have needs and respond in many ways to their impulses. A tree is an operating creation that is designed to take in nutrients to grow, breathe, communicate, recover from disease and injury, reproduce, and die.
People – People need resources to survive. Resources tend to flow from the oldest to the youngest people and the biggest to the smallest person. People also need and share blood with those in need.
Trees – Trees need resources to survive. Resources tend to flow from the oldest to the youngest trees and the biggest to the smallest trees. Trees also need and share carbon with those in need.
People – People's brains will guide their decisions about where to grow and how to deal with disease and climate.
Trees – Trees do not have a brain like people. Instead, trees have millions of tiny sensors at the tips of their roots that dictate how the roots will grow and how the tree will deal with soil, pests, and climate.
People – People have neurotransmitters in their brains that are often referred to as the body's chemical messengers. They are the molecules used by the nervous system to transmit messages between neurons, or from neurons to muscles. The human brain has approximately 80 billion nerve cells, called neurons. (A neuron is a grayish or reddish granular cell that is the fundamental functional unit of nervous tissue transmitting and receiving nerve impulses and having cytoplasmic processes which are highly differentiated frequently as multiple dendrites or usually as solitary axons which conduct impulses to and away from the cell body.) Neurotransmitters are like chemical words, sending “messages” from one neuron to another.
Trees – Trees use neurotransmitters and mycorrhizae attached to their roots to signal stress and probably many other functions unknown at this time but are currently being studied by scientists.
People – People have a love of a bright blue sky over a canopy of lush green trees and feel very relaxed with a walk in nature.
Trees – Trees have a love of a bright blue sky over a canopy of lush green trees and can produce maximum output of food from photosynthesis.
Social Interaction
People – People are selfless and help others in need the same way that bees will die by stinging an invader seeking the honey stored for everyone in the hive. People have a vast and ancient society. They experienced conflict and growth and depend on others for survival. They help each other regardless of species or nationality, and size.
Trees – Trees share food with trees in need via the transfer by symbiotic fungi. Trees reciprocate and can feed, inform, and rejuvenate other trees. Trees have a vast and ancient society. They experienced conflict and growth and depend on the other for survival. They help each other regardless of species or nationality, and size.
Inbreeding
People – Inbreeding is unacceptable and is simply defined as the mating of relatives. It is a mating system in which individuals carry genes that originated from a common ancestor. Inbreeding is considered a problem in humans because inbreeding increases the chances of receiving a recessive gene inherited from a common ancestor. The odds of inheriting rare genetic diseases goes up exponentially among children who are the result of inbreeding. Since inbreeding raises the risk that bad copies of a gene will be expressed, inbred progeny suffers from reduced viability.
Trees – Inbreeding is also unacceptable in the forest but it is called self-incompatibility. The majority of species are hermaphroditic, meaning trees possess both male and female reproductive organs, sometimes in the same flower, sometimes in separate flowers, and sometime in separate trees, depending on the species. Since many trees produce male or female flowers only, the risk of inbreeding is extremely low. It is the pollen-recognition system that enables trees to avoid the inbreeding caused by self-pollination. It involves a pair of tightly linked genes known as the S locus. Since inbreeding raises the risk that bad copies of a gene will be expressed, inbred progeny suffers from rot caused by the fungus Diplodia seriata resulting in reduced viability.
People – Cross breeding of distant family members and by nationality is acceptable.
Trees – Cross breeding of trees by family members within the same species is acceptable.
History
People – People are currently the superior survival organisms within the animal kingdom and have roamed the earth for about 6 million years. However, the impending climate change will result in high temperatures and high carbon levels in the atmosphere, that people and many animals are not likely to survive.
Trees – Trees are currently the superior survival organism within the plant kingdom. They have grown on the earth for at least 4.5 billion years. Trees and other plants will probably continue to survive despite climate change because the high amount of carbon in the air from burning fossil fuels will encourage plant growth. However, current tree and plant species may not be able to utilize all the carbon in the air that people generated from fossil fuel consumption. This may result in the globe becoming a forest of tropical plants with no living animals.
Comparisons of Life
Conception
People – Human fertilization occurs when a woman applies perfume to attract males and augment the release of subtle body odors and the release of hormones that signal males when her body is receptive to conception.
Trees – Most trees have developed perfumes in their flowers that attract beneficial pollinating insects. Trees can also time the release of flowers with the emergence of their favorite pollinator.
People – The female will reproduce by releasing an egg within her body while the male produces sperm that will fertilize the egg, thus ensuring a continuation of the species.
Trees – Seed fertilization occurs when male pollen is carried by insects or dispersed by wind to nearby female flowers. Almost all tree species can reproduce by seeds. Because trees cannot move from their location, each species has developed a unique set of requirements for seed production, dispersal, and germination to ensure continuation of the species.
People – During conception, males respond by having seminal emission with sperm being released to swim to the uterus where it meets up with the egg and the process of creating a new life begins.
Trees – During pollination the tiny hairs on the bodies of insects seeking nectar, will collect pollen off the anthers of one flower and deposit the pollen on the stigma of another flower of the same species, as the insect searches for more nectar. Other trees rely on wind to blow pollen on to the stigma of another nearby tree of the same species.
People – The successful male sperm often has to compete with as many as a million other sperm to penetrate the woman’s egg. Not all eggs and not all sperm will become fertile and develop offspring.
Trees – A tree will produce much more pollen than is necessary for the few female ovules that will require pollination. Not all flowers and not all pollen will become fertile and develop seeds, that will grow into a new tree.
People – The genetic material in the sperm combines with the female genetic material in her reproductive organs to create a new cell that will rapidly start dividing to become a baby that will contain the genetic characteristics of both parents.
Trees – The genetic material in the pollen and flower combine in the ovule to create a new cell that will rapidly start dividing into a seed that will contain the genetic characteristics of both parent trees which propagates the tree species.
Bad People – Some men are especially bad and try to impregnate many women. But most women are selective and only accept secretions of neurotransmitters.
Bad Trees – Some trees like spruce (Picea) for example are especially bad and produce vast quantities of pollen dust that flies in the air like yellow clouds. But most trees are selective and only accept pollen carried by bees or wind from the same species. This is also regulated by each species having the same bloom times and the female flower can accept pollen from desirable trees.
Artificial Reproduction
People – Babies can be conceived by invitro-fertilization. This is a man-made creation of a person usually reserved for couples who cannot conceive a child on their own. Sometimes however, a single woman may wish to have a baby and will prefer special features of a male when selecting a sperm donor. These features might be a handsome appearance, mature size, nationality, genetic resistance to certain diseases, high intelligence, pleasant personality, etc.
Trees – Trees can be developed by human intervention when a cross pollination is made to develop a hybrid tree with special features. A tree is selected for a reason such as a longer bloom period or more beautiful flowers, special autumn leaf colors, a special shape, or tolerance to pests, diseases, or the environment. The point of this effort is to create a new tree cultivar that will be more beautiful or more tolerant of a disease or a site problem such as drought or global warming.
Gestation
People – Gestation is defined in a woman as the development of an embryo or fetus inside the uterus.
Trees – Gestation in a tree is defined as the period of time when a seed is formed or developed in the ovary of the flower.
People – Humans begin as a single cell that divides to become an egg within the ovaries. That single cell will keep dividing and differentiating into cells with various roles to create a person.
Trees – Trees begin as a single cell that divides to become a seed. That single cell will divide and the resulting cells will continue dividing and differentiating into cells with various roles to create a tree.
People – Babies begin as soon as the sperm has made contact with the egg. The baby is protected within the womb of the mother as it grows from a single cell, with food supplied by the mother.
Trees – Seeds begin as soon as pollen has made contact with the ovule. The seed is protected within the flower (mother) as it grows from a single cell, with food supplied by the mother tree.
People – During gestation, the rising levels of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and growth hormones prepare the uterus to support a fertilized egg, and to enclose the growing baby over the coming months.
Trees – Successful pollination is the time when the seed will continue dividing and differentiate into cells with various roles to carry out within the organism and ripen on the tree within a fruit or seed. The seed accumulates reserves of food and, at its fullest development, it is rich in carbohydrates, fats, proteins and growth hormones.
People – As it grows in the womb, the unborn baby exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide with the mother through the placenta and umbilical cord. The mother’s blood circulates through the placenta and also carries nutrients to the baby.
Trees – As it grows, the essential parts of all seeds develop in the embryo, including the protective covering of the seed coat and a reserve of food substances which may be stored in the cotyledons, hypocotyl, endosperm, or perisperm, depending on the tree species.
People – Many things decide how a child will grow such as growth patterns of family members, nutrition, and various illnesses that might be inherited.
Trees – Many things including genetic factors, nutrition, and local climate will dictate how a tree will grow and various illnesses that might be inherited.
People – Before the tying off of the umbilical cord at birth, the baby must be taking in oxygen and exchanging it for carbon dioxide with its lungs.
Trees – Carbon dioxide and water are needed by the germinating seed during aerobic respiration. A food reserve in the endocarp part of the seed provides nourishment to push the growth of an embryonic tree seedling, until it can survive on its own.
People – Babies store food from the mother, internally, within the baby’s body as it grows in the womb. The food consists of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and growth hormones.
Trees – All food, enclosure, and protection for the seed is supplied within the flower's ovule. Tree embryos store this food internally, within the seed. The food consists of starch, proteins, and oils.
Birth
People – Many things decide how a child will grow such as growth patterns of family members, nutrition, and various illnesses that might be inherited.
Trees – Many things including genetic factors, nutrition, and local climate will dictate how a tree will grow and various illnesses that might be inherited.
People – When the growth and other conditions are just right, the birthing process begins. During the birthing process, uterine contractions help the woman’s cervix to go through the changes it needs to before it starts to dilate. Then during dilation, the cervix moves from the back toward the front of the woman’s body. The cervix will also be shortening and thinning. The baby will have enough energy to tolerate the push down the mother’s birth canal to where it is born and will begin the growth process.
Trees – To germinate or be born, most tree seeds need enough water to moisten the seed but not enough to soak them. When the seed imbibes water, hydrolytic enzymes are activated which break down these stored food resources into metabolically useful chemicals that will begin the growth process.
People – The baby breaks the amniotic sac to release the moisture that surrounded the baby during gestation and the fluid lubricates the baby's movement through the birth canal.
Trees – The uptake of water leads to the swelling of the food reserves within the seed which causes the breaking of the seed coat. The water in the soil that caused the swelling, provides moist soil for the emerging root to grow downward and the stem to push upward.
Beginning of Growth
People – A baby will begin to grow under the external care of its parents who provide breast milk and soft baby foods. People need carbohydrates (sugar) as fuel for growth.
Trees – A food reserve in the seed provides nourishment to push the growth of an embryonic tree. The seed becomes a seedling when conditions for growth such as temperature, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and sometimes light or darkness are just right. Trees need carbohydrates (sugar) as fuel for growth.
People – When the baby is born it has developed to a point where it can survive with parental care. Eventually, the person will grow in a manner similar to the patterns of the parents.
Trees – There will be enough food in the seed to keep the embryonic tree growing until the first leaf has emerged from the seed, and photosynthesis can begin with primary leaves using sunlight to produce the oxygen and sugars necessary for growth. The embryonic tree then becomes a seedling growing on its own, with no further assistance from its parents. Eventually, the tree will grow in a manner similar to the patterns of the parents.
People – Once the baby has grown, its mobility allows it to move anywhere around the globe.
Trees – A tree's mobility occurs when it is a seed and it can be carried anywhere around the globe. When the growth and climate is just right, many seeds have wings that allow them to be blown away from the mother tree when the wind is blowing. Other tree seed dispersal strategies include seeds falling on the ground beneath a nut tree, or seeds carried away by certain species of animals or birds. One example is a crabapple that was eaten by a bird. The seeds are dropped some distance from the tree after passing through the bird. The intent is to encourage the germination of the seed somewhere less crowded than where the mother tree is growing.
Life Spans
In this comparison, people and trees have similar functions, but the time scale and names are very different.
People and Trees – All are born, live, reproduce, die, and the family lives on.
People – All are born, live, reproduce, die, and the family lives on. The growth of babies begins in the early stages when most of the energy produced is used for growth. People reach their mature height and then expand in girth.
Trees – All are born, live, reproduce, die, and the family lives on. Tree growth begins in the early stages when most of the energy produced by a tree is also used for growth, but at a much slower rate than the growth rate of humans. Trees reach their mature height and then expand in girth.
People – Humans have a very high metabolism rate and growth is noticeable during the first year and full size is achieved in 18 years.
Trees – There is a slow increase in size as the crown and leaf area grow from a seedling to a fully mature tree. Trees move and act so slowly that we hardly notice any movement except in the seedling stage of growth and through the first couple years of life. By age 30 most of a tree's growth is focused on spread and height.
People – Mothers will nurse their babies with food and nurtrients to help them grow to an age when they can feed themselves and grow toward maturity.
Trees – Mother trees will often feed or nurse their babies through their roots if there is not enough sunlight for the baby tree to make its own food. This occurs while the baby is waiting for there to be an opening in the forest canopy so it can use the sunlight to grow more rapidly toward maturity.
People – Humans life span can vary. Their growth rate is determined by genetics as well as the availability of nutrients. Sometimes people reach the age of 100 years.
Trees – A tree's life span can vary. Their growth rate is determined by genetics as well as the weather and availability of microbes and nutrients in the soil. In addition to the actual tree, a tree's roots have been known to live much longer than the tree itself. Most often, in a forest, the roots are part of the communication network among trees. In some cases, root systems have been known to re-sprout trees for a new life, indicating that the roots of the tree did not die when the tree did.
Trees can live on average:
Size
People – After the birth, the baby will continue to grow but under the external care of its parents. Children grow most rapidly during the first years of life. Their growth rate gradually slows down each year until they reach their maximum height in their teenage years depending on their sex, food supply, and the parent’s height. People increase in girth after reaching a mature height and age.
Trees – When the seedling begins the process of photosynthesis, the growth rate speeds up. As the seedling turns into a sapling, the tree is growing at its most rapid rate. Like people, the tree’s growth rate gradually slows down each year until they reach their maximum height in 20 to 40 years, depending on the soil, the sunlight at the site, climate, genetics, and the parents height. Tree branches grow fast without competition from other tree branches. When they get close to another tree's branches, they slow down and increase in width. Tree trunks increase in girth after reaching a mature height and age.
People – Tall parents will have tall offspring and short parents will have short offspring, all of which is determined by hundreds of human genes as well as environmental conditions, nutrients, and hormones.
Trees – Trees with a strong apical dominance are more upright in growth. Trees with a weak apical dominance have more horizontal and spreading growth crowns. Apical dominance is a genetic factor. Young trees will grow to a size similar to its parents. A tree's height is determined by its genes and environmental conditions such as nutrients, sunlight and water.
People – People grow mostly during the daylight hours and rest overnight but do not stop all growth activity. Breathing, heart beats, and brain activity continue but at a greatly reduced rate. The sun is known to be a factor in the human growth rate, because it allows the body to absorb vitamin D which is essential for growth.
Trees – Tree growth can be measured and it was discovered that, like people, during the nighttime, growth was much slower than during the daylight hours. Fluids continue to flow but at a reduced rate at night. This is attributed to the lack of sunlight to produce sugars for growth. Roots continue growing 24/7.
People – People rest more in winter because of the lower sunlight intensity and the lack of vitamin D production which is essential for growth. People continue to grow during the winter months but at a greatly reduced rate.
Trees – Trees rest when the leaves have fallen off deciduous trees in autumn. Evergreens however continue to grow during the winter months but at a greatly reduced rate. The roots of all trees grow in winter in areas where the soil is not frozen.
People – People feed themselves with energy from plants. They store the surplus energy as fats just under their skin. People can eat to excess but will usually stop when they are full.
Trees – Trees fuel themselves with energy from the sun which they use to make sugar and other compounds they can hold in reserve, in tissues just under their bark. Trees will stop food production once these tissues are full.
From Child to Adult
People – When the baby grows through childhood and stays close to home with the parents, the child is part of a family. Or the young adult may choose to live somewhere else and create his or her own family. Unlike trees, people have mobility which allows them to move anywhere around the globe. Humans show favoritism toward relatives, compared to friends and strangers. Associating with your relatives is a good way to improve the odds that your genes will survive. Two parents create a family, and many families create a village. Many villages create a nation of harmony and kinship.
Trees – When the seed sprouts close to the parent it grows and becomes part of a grove of trees or if the seed began to grow some distance away, it might be the start of a new grove. The groves can be found in locations that provide the ideal locations for the particular tree species. Associating with the trees in the grove is how trees improve the odds that their genes will survive. Many groves create a forest of harmony and kinship.
People – People prefer living with their family or in ethnic groups. They are sociable with people around them at work, play, and at home. They may develop into an ethnic group and eventually into a city with their own language, customs and religions. Occasionally, people from a different background may grow and live in a neighborhood with native people living in the city.
Trees – Trees are usually found in groves, where many trees of the same species can be found growing in harmony. They may eventually develop into a forest of a single species that covers a vast area of land and with their own language, pest resistance and climates. Occasionally trees from a different species may grow and live in a forest among the native trees.
People – People do not like living in crowded cities where too many people result in crime, disease, hunger, and struggles for survival.
Trees – When there are too many trees in the forest, the mature trees provide a dense shade that discourages the growth of seedlings on the forest floor. When too many trees are close together, they may become subject to disease and pest invasions and will struggle for survival.
People and Trees – Another common feature of both are the pioneers. People pioneers like to go exploring and starting new settlements for their families. Tree pioneers are species that grow very quickly and start new forests of fast-growing trees. Their seeds at a windy location are capable of flying on a single wing or a fruit being eaten by a bird or animal and the seed begins to grow a long way from home.
Child
People – Children from birth to teen aged years are focused on growth and an increase in size going from infancy to fully mature size by about age 20. The social focus is on education and socialization.
Trees – Tree growth begins in the seedling stage when most of the energy produced by a tree is used for growth. There is a rapid increase in size as the crown and leaf area grows from a seedling to a fully mature tree. The time period varies considerably, depending on the species, the soil, location, and the climate. The focus is on communication and searching for the sunlight needed for growth.
People – Children have small bones, small features, small overall size. As they grow, they require energy to grow their bones and increase in size to accommodate the increasing body size.
Trees – Trees start out as small seedlings with small leaves and small stem and branches. As they grow they require energy to grow wood, to increase in size to accommodate the increasing weight of the limbs, bark, leaves, and branches.
Middle Age
People – People have reached their optimum size by their teen-age years. Middle age is considered the productive years from age 20 to 70. People are focused on their careers, special interests, and their family.
Trees – When the optimum crown size is reached, the amount of food produced from the leaves remains much the same each year and results in a more or less constant volume of wood being generated throughout the tree. However, as the tree trunk increases in diameter, the constant volume of wood is spread thinner as the trunk diameter expands and the rings on a cross section of the trunk decline in width. The time period for a tree's middle age varies considerably, depending on the species and location, but an average age would be 30 to 100 years.
Ancient
People – When people get older they require more attention and work to keep healthy. People are declining in their productivity from age 70 to 110. They experience more illness, weak bones that might break in a fall. Their focus is on families, friends, exercise, and health care.
Trees – When trees get older they require more attention and work to keep healthy. The final stage is reached when the successive increments added to the tree, recorded as the rings of wood. Trees will have an increasing cross-sectional area, but with thinner space between growth rings, and probably irregular gaps where no growth has occurred. Damage and decay result in reduced productivity of the tree’s functions. The result is that as the leaf area declines, less new photosynthetic material is produced and the tree is less able to maintain a complete cover of woody material over the trunk. However, as it declines the tree expands its level of biodiversity through retrenchment and the tree becomes home to an ever-increasing number of birds, animals, and diseases.
If a tree has become very old or for some other reason has broken its linkage to the fungal network, signals become lost and the tree cannot adequately establish a defense against a pest before the pest arrives. Soon after, the tree will die or become very weak and defenseless against other diseases or pests.
People – An elderly person is declining in weight and eats less than when they were younger. People decline in old age, resulting in broken bones, and usually die from a disease, injury or failure of a major body part. People do not die of “old age”.
Trees – Ancient trees are declining in size and branches may be broken from storms. The crown dies back from disease, injury or pests and the failure of the trunk. Trees do not die of “old age”
After Death
People – People work to provide food and shelter for their families and when one person dies, there are others to replace the person and the family continues to survive. Trees are actually farming humans. They feed us and provide oxygen, then consume us when we die. Some of the people I know are probably going to give the poor things a bad dose of arboricultural indigestion.
Trees – Trees have families around them in the form of seedlings and sometimes suckers from their roots. In addition, the tree family members are all available to survive the mother tree when she dies. As soon as there is an opening in the forest canopy that allows the sunlight to reach these family members, there is a major growth surge from all the family members, as they race to be the first tree to reach the opening. Once the hole in the canopy is closed the trees that did not make it, die or decrease their growth rate while they wait for the next opening to appear. The forest family of trees continues to survive.
People – People are farming trees for shelter, wood, food, oxygen and beauty on the planet.
Trees – Trees are farming people for nutrients, carbon, unusual care during periods of human induced issues.
Conception
People – Human fertilization occurs when a woman applies perfume to attract males and augment the release of subtle body odors and the release of hormones that signal males when her body is receptive to conception.
Trees – Most trees have developed perfumes in their flowers that attract beneficial pollinating insects. Trees can also time the release of flowers with the emergence of their favorite pollinator.
People – The female will reproduce by releasing an egg within her body while the male produces sperm that will fertilize the egg, thus ensuring a continuation of the species.
Trees – Seed fertilization occurs when male pollen is carried by insects or dispersed by wind to nearby female flowers. Almost all tree species can reproduce by seeds. Because trees cannot move from their location, each species has developed a unique set of requirements for seed production, dispersal, and germination to ensure continuation of the species.
People – During conception, males respond by having seminal emission with sperm being released to swim to the uterus where it meets up with the egg and the process of creating a new life begins.
Trees – During pollination the tiny hairs on the bodies of insects seeking nectar, will collect pollen off the anthers of one flower and deposit the pollen on the stigma of another flower of the same species, as the insect searches for more nectar. Other trees rely on wind to blow pollen on to the stigma of another nearby tree of the same species.
People – The successful male sperm often has to compete with as many as a million other sperm to penetrate the woman’s egg. Not all eggs and not all sperm will become fertile and develop offspring.
Trees – A tree will produce much more pollen than is necessary for the few female ovules that will require pollination. Not all flowers and not all pollen will become fertile and develop seeds, that will grow into a new tree.
People – The genetic material in the sperm combines with the female genetic material in her reproductive organs to create a new cell that will rapidly start dividing to become a baby that will contain the genetic characteristics of both parents.
Trees – The genetic material in the pollen and flower combine in the ovule to create a new cell that will rapidly start dividing into a seed that will contain the genetic characteristics of both parent trees which propagates the tree species.
Bad People – Some men are especially bad and try to impregnate many women. But most women are selective and only accept secretions of neurotransmitters.
Bad Trees – Some trees like spruce (Picea) for example are especially bad and produce vast quantities of pollen dust that flies in the air like yellow clouds. But most trees are selective and only accept pollen carried by bees or wind from the same species. This is also regulated by each species having the same bloom times and the female flower can accept pollen from desirable trees.
Artificial Reproduction
People – Babies can be conceived by invitro-fertilization. This is a man-made creation of a person usually reserved for couples who cannot conceive a child on their own. Sometimes however, a single woman may wish to have a baby and will prefer special features of a male when selecting a sperm donor. These features might be a handsome appearance, mature size, nationality, genetic resistance to certain diseases, high intelligence, pleasant personality, etc.
Trees – Trees can be developed by human intervention when a cross pollination is made to develop a hybrid tree with special features. A tree is selected for a reason such as a longer bloom period or more beautiful flowers, special autumn leaf colors, a special shape, or tolerance to pests, diseases, or the environment. The point of this effort is to create a new tree cultivar that will be more beautiful or more tolerant of a disease or a site problem such as drought or global warming.
Gestation
People – Gestation is defined in a woman as the development of an embryo or fetus inside the uterus.
Trees – Gestation in a tree is defined as the period of time when a seed is formed or developed in the ovary of the flower.
People – Humans begin as a single cell that divides to become an egg within the ovaries. That single cell will keep dividing and differentiating into cells with various roles to create a person.
Trees – Trees begin as a single cell that divides to become a seed. That single cell will divide and the resulting cells will continue dividing and differentiating into cells with various roles to create a tree.
People – Babies begin as soon as the sperm has made contact with the egg. The baby is protected within the womb of the mother as it grows from a single cell, with food supplied by the mother.
Trees – Seeds begin as soon as pollen has made contact with the ovule. The seed is protected within the flower (mother) as it grows from a single cell, with food supplied by the mother tree.
People – During gestation, the rising levels of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and growth hormones prepare the uterus to support a fertilized egg, and to enclose the growing baby over the coming months.
Trees – Successful pollination is the time when the seed will continue dividing and differentiate into cells with various roles to carry out within the organism and ripen on the tree within a fruit or seed. The seed accumulates reserves of food and, at its fullest development, it is rich in carbohydrates, fats, proteins and growth hormones.
People – As it grows in the womb, the unborn baby exchanges oxygen and carbon dioxide with the mother through the placenta and umbilical cord. The mother’s blood circulates through the placenta and also carries nutrients to the baby.
Trees – As it grows, the essential parts of all seeds develop in the embryo, including the protective covering of the seed coat and a reserve of food substances which may be stored in the cotyledons, hypocotyl, endosperm, or perisperm, depending on the tree species.
People – Many things decide how a child will grow such as growth patterns of family members, nutrition, and various illnesses that might be inherited.
Trees – Many things including genetic factors, nutrition, and local climate will dictate how a tree will grow and various illnesses that might be inherited.
People – Before the tying off of the umbilical cord at birth, the baby must be taking in oxygen and exchanging it for carbon dioxide with its lungs.
Trees – Carbon dioxide and water are needed by the germinating seed during aerobic respiration. A food reserve in the endocarp part of the seed provides nourishment to push the growth of an embryonic tree seedling, until it can survive on its own.
People – Babies store food from the mother, internally, within the baby’s body as it grows in the womb. The food consists of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and growth hormones.
Trees – All food, enclosure, and protection for the seed is supplied within the flower's ovule. Tree embryos store this food internally, within the seed. The food consists of starch, proteins, and oils.
Birth
People – Many things decide how a child will grow such as growth patterns of family members, nutrition, and various illnesses that might be inherited.
Trees – Many things including genetic factors, nutrition, and local climate will dictate how a tree will grow and various illnesses that might be inherited.
People – When the growth and other conditions are just right, the birthing process begins. During the birthing process, uterine contractions help the woman’s cervix to go through the changes it needs to before it starts to dilate. Then during dilation, the cervix moves from the back toward the front of the woman’s body. The cervix will also be shortening and thinning. The baby will have enough energy to tolerate the push down the mother’s birth canal to where it is born and will begin the growth process.
Trees – To germinate or be born, most tree seeds need enough water to moisten the seed but not enough to soak them. When the seed imbibes water, hydrolytic enzymes are activated which break down these stored food resources into metabolically useful chemicals that will begin the growth process.
People – The baby breaks the amniotic sac to release the moisture that surrounded the baby during gestation and the fluid lubricates the baby's movement through the birth canal.
Trees – The uptake of water leads to the swelling of the food reserves within the seed which causes the breaking of the seed coat. The water in the soil that caused the swelling, provides moist soil for the emerging root to grow downward and the stem to push upward.
Beginning of Growth
People – A baby will begin to grow under the external care of its parents who provide breast milk and soft baby foods. People need carbohydrates (sugar) as fuel for growth.
Trees – A food reserve in the seed provides nourishment to push the growth of an embryonic tree. The seed becomes a seedling when conditions for growth such as temperature, water, oxygen, carbon dioxide, and sometimes light or darkness are just right. Trees need carbohydrates (sugar) as fuel for growth.
People – When the baby is born it has developed to a point where it can survive with parental care. Eventually, the person will grow in a manner similar to the patterns of the parents.
Trees – There will be enough food in the seed to keep the embryonic tree growing until the first leaf has emerged from the seed, and photosynthesis can begin with primary leaves using sunlight to produce the oxygen and sugars necessary for growth. The embryonic tree then becomes a seedling growing on its own, with no further assistance from its parents. Eventually, the tree will grow in a manner similar to the patterns of the parents.
People – Once the baby has grown, its mobility allows it to move anywhere around the globe.
Trees – A tree's mobility occurs when it is a seed and it can be carried anywhere around the globe. When the growth and climate is just right, many seeds have wings that allow them to be blown away from the mother tree when the wind is blowing. Other tree seed dispersal strategies include seeds falling on the ground beneath a nut tree, or seeds carried away by certain species of animals or birds. One example is a crabapple that was eaten by a bird. The seeds are dropped some distance from the tree after passing through the bird. The intent is to encourage the germination of the seed somewhere less crowded than where the mother tree is growing.
Life Spans
In this comparison, people and trees have similar functions, but the time scale and names are very different.
People and Trees – All are born, live, reproduce, die, and the family lives on.
People – All are born, live, reproduce, die, and the family lives on. The growth of babies begins in the early stages when most of the energy produced is used for growth. People reach their mature height and then expand in girth.
Trees – All are born, live, reproduce, die, and the family lives on. Tree growth begins in the early stages when most of the energy produced by a tree is also used for growth, but at a much slower rate than the growth rate of humans. Trees reach their mature height and then expand in girth.
People – Humans have a very high metabolism rate and growth is noticeable during the first year and full size is achieved in 18 years.
Trees – There is a slow increase in size as the crown and leaf area grow from a seedling to a fully mature tree. Trees move and act so slowly that we hardly notice any movement except in the seedling stage of growth and through the first couple years of life. By age 30 most of a tree's growth is focused on spread and height.
People – Mothers will nurse their babies with food and nurtrients to help them grow to an age when they can feed themselves and grow toward maturity.
Trees – Mother trees will often feed or nurse their babies through their roots if there is not enough sunlight for the baby tree to make its own food. This occurs while the baby is waiting for there to be an opening in the forest canopy so it can use the sunlight to grow more rapidly toward maturity.
People – Humans life span can vary. Their growth rate is determined by genetics as well as the availability of nutrients. Sometimes people reach the age of 100 years.
- the age of the oldest man recorded was Jiroemon Kimura of Japan (1897-2013) who died at 116 years and 54 days.
- the age of the oldest woman recorded was Jeanne Louise Calment (1875–1997) of France who died at 122 years and 164 days.
Trees – A tree's life span can vary. Their growth rate is determined by genetics as well as the weather and availability of microbes and nutrients in the soil. In addition to the actual tree, a tree's roots have been known to live much longer than the tree itself. Most often, in a forest, the roots are part of the communication network among trees. In some cases, root systems have been known to re-sprout trees for a new life, indicating that the roots of the tree did not die when the tree did.
Trees can live on average:
- 7 – 10 years in an urban planting site.
- 25 – 50 years in the suburbs.
- more than 50 years in the forest.
- The oldest living tree in England is the Forthingall yew (Taxus baccata) in Scotland, aged about 3,000 years old.
- The root system of a Norway Spruce (Picea abies) in Dalarna Province of Sweden has been sending up new shoots for 9,550 years.
- The oldest, well-known individual tree in the world is, Methuselah, a bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) aged 4,852 years old. It is located in California's White Mountains. Nearby is a recently discovered, unnamed bristlecone pine aged 5,062 years old.
- Pando, an 80,000 to 100,000-year-old colony of quaking aspen, is the oldest-known clonal tree. It is located in Utah, United States. It assumed to have one massive underground root system that keeps sending up new shoots that become new trees. It is also the heaviest known organism in the world.
- Researchers working on the Central Andean Plateau in Peru discovered a giant tree fossil buried in the plains. It lived halfway through the Neogene period from 10 million years ago. The South American climate where this fossil was discovered is much more humid than had previously been thought, based on what this tree fossil revealed.
- In places like the European Alps or in Canada and Alaska, where it’s rarely too dry for trees to grow a lot but it can get too cold. The trees in these regions record temperature, rather than moisture. Rain and warmth encourage more growth than dry and cold weather.
- The Ginkgo tree's cell division tends to slow down after the age of 200, but the cells are still viable. They generate defenses and carry water and nutrients so the tree grows and stays healthy and can live forever because they do not have the hormone which would allow them to die of old age. Older trees were found to have lower levels of this growth hormone called indole-3-acetic acid and higher levels of a growth-inhibiting hormone called abscisic acid. Sometimes ginkgo trees may be reduced to just hollow stumps, but with the cambium intact, they can still produce leaves, stems, and flowers. Some trees even remain alive as stumps, and re-sprout years after the rest of the tree had died or been cut down.
Size
People – After the birth, the baby will continue to grow but under the external care of its parents. Children grow most rapidly during the first years of life. Their growth rate gradually slows down each year until they reach their maximum height in their teenage years depending on their sex, food supply, and the parent’s height. People increase in girth after reaching a mature height and age.
Trees – When the seedling begins the process of photosynthesis, the growth rate speeds up. As the seedling turns into a sapling, the tree is growing at its most rapid rate. Like people, the tree’s growth rate gradually slows down each year until they reach their maximum height in 20 to 40 years, depending on the soil, the sunlight at the site, climate, genetics, and the parents height. Tree branches grow fast without competition from other tree branches. When they get close to another tree's branches, they slow down and increase in width. Tree trunks increase in girth after reaching a mature height and age.
People – Tall parents will have tall offspring and short parents will have short offspring, all of which is determined by hundreds of human genes as well as environmental conditions, nutrients, and hormones.
Trees – Trees with a strong apical dominance are more upright in growth. Trees with a weak apical dominance have more horizontal and spreading growth crowns. Apical dominance is a genetic factor. Young trees will grow to a size similar to its parents. A tree's height is determined by its genes and environmental conditions such as nutrients, sunlight and water.
People – People grow mostly during the daylight hours and rest overnight but do not stop all growth activity. Breathing, heart beats, and brain activity continue but at a greatly reduced rate. The sun is known to be a factor in the human growth rate, because it allows the body to absorb vitamin D which is essential for growth.
Trees – Tree growth can be measured and it was discovered that, like people, during the nighttime, growth was much slower than during the daylight hours. Fluids continue to flow but at a reduced rate at night. This is attributed to the lack of sunlight to produce sugars for growth. Roots continue growing 24/7.
People – People rest more in winter because of the lower sunlight intensity and the lack of vitamin D production which is essential for growth. People continue to grow during the winter months but at a greatly reduced rate.
Trees – Trees rest when the leaves have fallen off deciduous trees in autumn. Evergreens however continue to grow during the winter months but at a greatly reduced rate. The roots of all trees grow in winter in areas where the soil is not frozen.
People – People feed themselves with energy from plants. They store the surplus energy as fats just under their skin. People can eat to excess but will usually stop when they are full.
Trees – Trees fuel themselves with energy from the sun which they use to make sugar and other compounds they can hold in reserve, in tissues just under their bark. Trees will stop food production once these tissues are full.
From Child to Adult
People – When the baby grows through childhood and stays close to home with the parents, the child is part of a family. Or the young adult may choose to live somewhere else and create his or her own family. Unlike trees, people have mobility which allows them to move anywhere around the globe. Humans show favoritism toward relatives, compared to friends and strangers. Associating with your relatives is a good way to improve the odds that your genes will survive. Two parents create a family, and many families create a village. Many villages create a nation of harmony and kinship.
Trees – When the seed sprouts close to the parent it grows and becomes part of a grove of trees or if the seed began to grow some distance away, it might be the start of a new grove. The groves can be found in locations that provide the ideal locations for the particular tree species. Associating with the trees in the grove is how trees improve the odds that their genes will survive. Many groves create a forest of harmony and kinship.
People – People prefer living with their family or in ethnic groups. They are sociable with people around them at work, play, and at home. They may develop into an ethnic group and eventually into a city with their own language, customs and religions. Occasionally, people from a different background may grow and live in a neighborhood with native people living in the city.
Trees – Trees are usually found in groves, where many trees of the same species can be found growing in harmony. They may eventually develop into a forest of a single species that covers a vast area of land and with their own language, pest resistance and climates. Occasionally trees from a different species may grow and live in a forest among the native trees.
People – People do not like living in crowded cities where too many people result in crime, disease, hunger, and struggles for survival.
Trees – When there are too many trees in the forest, the mature trees provide a dense shade that discourages the growth of seedlings on the forest floor. When too many trees are close together, they may become subject to disease and pest invasions and will struggle for survival.
People and Trees – Another common feature of both are the pioneers. People pioneers like to go exploring and starting new settlements for their families. Tree pioneers are species that grow very quickly and start new forests of fast-growing trees. Their seeds at a windy location are capable of flying on a single wing or a fruit being eaten by a bird or animal and the seed begins to grow a long way from home.
Child
People – Children from birth to teen aged years are focused on growth and an increase in size going from infancy to fully mature size by about age 20. The social focus is on education and socialization.
Trees – Tree growth begins in the seedling stage when most of the energy produced by a tree is used for growth. There is a rapid increase in size as the crown and leaf area grows from a seedling to a fully mature tree. The time period varies considerably, depending on the species, the soil, location, and the climate. The focus is on communication and searching for the sunlight needed for growth.
People – Children have small bones, small features, small overall size. As they grow, they require energy to grow their bones and increase in size to accommodate the increasing body size.
Trees – Trees start out as small seedlings with small leaves and small stem and branches. As they grow they require energy to grow wood, to increase in size to accommodate the increasing weight of the limbs, bark, leaves, and branches.
Middle Age
People – People have reached their optimum size by their teen-age years. Middle age is considered the productive years from age 20 to 70. People are focused on their careers, special interests, and their family.
Trees – When the optimum crown size is reached, the amount of food produced from the leaves remains much the same each year and results in a more or less constant volume of wood being generated throughout the tree. However, as the tree trunk increases in diameter, the constant volume of wood is spread thinner as the trunk diameter expands and the rings on a cross section of the trunk decline in width. The time period for a tree's middle age varies considerably, depending on the species and location, but an average age would be 30 to 100 years.
Ancient
People – When people get older they require more attention and work to keep healthy. People are declining in their productivity from age 70 to 110. They experience more illness, weak bones that might break in a fall. Their focus is on families, friends, exercise, and health care.
Trees – When trees get older they require more attention and work to keep healthy. The final stage is reached when the successive increments added to the tree, recorded as the rings of wood. Trees will have an increasing cross-sectional area, but with thinner space between growth rings, and probably irregular gaps where no growth has occurred. Damage and decay result in reduced productivity of the tree’s functions. The result is that as the leaf area declines, less new photosynthetic material is produced and the tree is less able to maintain a complete cover of woody material over the trunk. However, as it declines the tree expands its level of biodiversity through retrenchment and the tree becomes home to an ever-increasing number of birds, animals, and diseases.
If a tree has become very old or for some other reason has broken its linkage to the fungal network, signals become lost and the tree cannot adequately establish a defense against a pest before the pest arrives. Soon after, the tree will die or become very weak and defenseless against other diseases or pests.
People – An elderly person is declining in weight and eats less than when they were younger. People decline in old age, resulting in broken bones, and usually die from a disease, injury or failure of a major body part. People do not die of “old age”.
Trees – Ancient trees are declining in size and branches may be broken from storms. The crown dies back from disease, injury or pests and the failure of the trunk. Trees do not die of “old age”
After Death
People – People work to provide food and shelter for their families and when one person dies, there are others to replace the person and the family continues to survive. Trees are actually farming humans. They feed us and provide oxygen, then consume us when we die. Some of the people I know are probably going to give the poor things a bad dose of arboricultural indigestion.
Trees – Trees have families around them in the form of seedlings and sometimes suckers from their roots. In addition, the tree family members are all available to survive the mother tree when she dies. As soon as there is an opening in the forest canopy that allows the sunlight to reach these family members, there is a major growth surge from all the family members, as they race to be the first tree to reach the opening. Once the hole in the canopy is closed the trees that did not make it, die or decrease their growth rate while they wait for the next opening to appear. The forest family of trees continues to survive.
People – People are farming trees for shelter, wood, food, oxygen and beauty on the planet.
Trees – Trees are farming people for nutrients, carbon, unusual care during periods of human induced issues.
Biological Functions
Appearance
People – As people grow up, they are different in size and appearance. Even identical twins may have very slight physical differences because of their personalities, exposure to their individual lifestyles, other people, personal interests, eating habits, illness, etc.
Trees – As trees grow, they are different in size and appearance. Even among cuttings or clones from the same mother tree, there will be differences because of the interaction with sunlight, moisture levels and the soil, competition with other trees, site exposure, etc.
People – People have a head, torso, and feet.
Trees – Trees have limbs, a trunk, and roots.
Respiration
People – Respiration in people is the second half of a two-part process that people use when they respire which is the inhalation and exhalation of air or breathing. When people inhale air or consume food, they use the oxygen and stored sugars for energy to grow. When they exhale, they give off the carbon dioxide as a waste product that is reused by a plant.
Trees – Trees also need energy to grow. This energy is released from the food or sugar made by trees in a process called photosynthesis, which is the first half of respiration. During photosynthesis, trees use light energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide from the air with water and minerals drawn up from their roots, into sugar, which is energy for growth and other life and metabolic processes. During photosynthesis carbon dioxide from the air generates surplus oxygen which is given off in the air as a waste product. The energy in the sugar is a building block for many other compounds.
People – At night, people continue to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide through their nose and mouth. They also micro-breathe through their skin.
Trees – At night, when the tree is not photosynthesizing it does the reverse by taking in oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide. In winter and hibernation when growth has slowed down and leaves have dropped from the branches, the trees breathe through their roots, and also micro-breathe through their bark.
People – People need to rest and sleep. They can suffer from sleep deprivation if they stay up all night or go too long without sleep.
Trees – Trees need to rest and sleep. If a tree was flooded with lights overnight, it would continue making food and would also suffer from sleep deprivation.
People – People rest overnight.
Trees – Trees rest overnight.
Burning
People – People have narrow slits on their faces that are mouths and nostrils. People use their nose and mouth for respiration. They use the oxygen in the air to “burn” energy (sugars) as they exercise. The harder people exercise, the more sugars they are burning so the more oxygen they need. Unused sugars are stored in pockets of glycogen in the muscles and liver.
Trees – Trees take up carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air through the narrow slits of stomata in their leaves and oxygen in the soil pores through their roots. The oxygen is used as part of photosynthesis to create sugars and food for tree growth and the surplus is stored as starch in the wood of the trunk, branches and roots. When wood is combined with oxygen and heat, the process is referred to as “burning”.
Growth Enhancement
People – An environment that encourages physical development is important to people of all ages. A child should eat a well-balanced diet containing carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, or other supplements. Children need opportunities to develop body strength as well as to develop all their senses of sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste.
Trees – From the wealth of photosynthesis, plants produce exudates in the form of carbohydrates and proteins. They then share this food with soil microorganisms in exchange for the organisms sourcing minerals and water for the tree. Mother trees in the forest use the underground communication network to nourish their shaded seedlings, which the trees can apparently recognize as kin because other seedlings of unknown parentage wither and die from neglect.
People – Children who are well fed and receive physical exercise are very healthy and grow to their maximum potential. Children and adults need strength and family connections that enable them to deal with life's daily challenges.
Trees – When they are tall enough to reach the light, the sapling grows on without assistance from the mother tree. They react positively toward their mother tree rather than assistance from a different tree. Helping out the relatives is a good way to improve the odds that their genes will survive.
Trees prefer growing in groups, groves, or colonies of the same species. Often a mother tree in the forest will grow surrounded by her seedlings. They are sociable through their root systems connected to other trees around them.
Sometimes a tree in the urban environment is not performing well and may need a nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer or a biostimulant which is a product applied by people to assist trees that are struggling in the urban environment instead of the forest where a tree's growth is more normal. When a tree is planted in a city or by itself in a landscape, it will have a much shorter life-span than the same tree in a forest. Fertilizer and biostimulants were originally developed to promote tree root growth and were also used to reduce tree stress, improve tolerance to disease, and improve root quality. Trees in the forest seldom need any assistance with the growth process because of all the available nutrients and micro-organisms that occur naturally in the forest. Trees develop strength in the woods that enables them to resist daily challenges.
People – People like all kinds of food. Grains and meats are very satisfying and promote good growth. People also like a sweet "green" treat after their meal or for a change of pace.
Trees – Trees also know the secret of sweet treats. Pests such as caterpillars often feed on the sweet leaves of trees. The sweet leaves of certain trees contain nectar glands which secrete the same sweet juice as the tree's flowers. Ants will also feed on the leaves to collect the sweet juice, but when the ants get tired of the sweet juice they eat the caterpillars and the tree is happy.
People and Trees – Both require bacteria to break down food into nutrients that can provide food for growth and energy.
People – People tend to be comfortable, happier, and healthier with constant exposure to trees and forests. When trees are removed, people tend to become prone to diseases, violence, and stress.
Trees – When trees are growing in a forest, they are happy, grow rapidly and can work together to fight off pests and diseases. When the trees are growing in a city or among many people, they struggle to grow and are prone to attacks by pests and diseases. They also recover from attacks by people more slowly. The attacks come in the form of cutting into the bark, breaking branches when people are climbing them and compacting the soil around their roots.
People – People who are forced to stop exercising tend to lose weight and reduce in size in order to save essential calories for future growth.
Trees – When the lower leaves are in the shade, the leaves and branches drop off because they are no longer creating food for essential future growth.
Blister
People – An elevation of the surface of skin, containing watery matter or serum, and caused by a burn or any similar swelling from trapped air or water in a surface bubble is called a blister. Its boundaries may be indefinitely outlined, and it could burst and become flattened.
Trees – An elevation of the surface of bark, somewhat resembling the shape of a blister on human skin and its boundaries may be indefinitely outlined and the blister can burst and become flattened. The resin filled blister is easily and commonly spotted on the bark of Abies or Picea.
Circulatory System
People – All blood in a grown person enters the right side of the heart through two veins. One vein collects blood from the upper half of the body and the other vein collects blood from the lower half of the body. Blood leaves the heart and is pumped through the pulmonary artery and into the lungs and digestive system where it is cleaned and it picks up oxygen and nutrients and discards waste collected by the blood. The enriched blood then returns to the heart where it is returned to the upper and lower halves of the body through the arteries.
Trees – Trees have xylem which is living "sapwood" and is located inside the cambial zone and against the heartwood located at the center of the tree’s wood. Xylem carries water absorbed by the roots along with substances and minerals dissolved in the water, and it flows from the roots to the leaves. The water flows upward using capillary action. Most of the water is evaporated from the leaves into the atmosphere in a process called transpiration. As the water evaporates, it is replaced with water coming up from the roots through the xylem tubes, like drinking water through a straw. A small portion of the water is used in the leaves with nutrients and sunlight to create sugars which are then distributed to where they are needed for growth throughout the tree.
Phloem carries this manufactured food or sugars from the leaves toward the roots. When the tree is healthy and growing and sugars are abundant, the extra sugars are stored in the form of starch which can be converted back into sugars and moved by the phloem to where it is needed in the tree. The phloem cells are located between the inner bark and the outside layers of the bark and is the food track to the growing roots.
Fluids
People – When people get overheated, they sweat and the evaporating water cools the skin and the human body.
Trees – When the tree gets overheated water is evaporated from the leaves into the atmosphere in a process called transpiration. This evaporation process cools the tree and the forest around it.
People – Blood moves water and minerals to the heart in veins while blood leaving the heart is in arteries and flows to every part of the body supplying nutrition for growth to those parts.
Trees – During the growing season, xylem moves water (called sap) and minerals such as carbon, sugars and other substances from absorbing non-woody roots to the leaves while phloem transports the sap and energy made in leaves to every living part of the tree on its way to the roots while supplying nutrition for growth to those parts.
People – The bone marrow produces stem cells, the building blocks that the body uses to make the different blood cells--red cells, white cells and platelets. The erythropoietin, a hormone produced primarily by the kidneys, plays a key role in the production of red blood cells. It sends a message to the stem cells telling more of them to develop into red blood cells, rather than white cells or platelets.
Blood also supplies a person's tissues with nutrients, oxygen, etc. and are carried to body cells and then the blood removes waste products that are picked up for excretion. Blood is the fluid that circulates in the principal vascular system of people consisting of plasma in which the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are suspended.
Trees – Tree sap production begins in warm summer months when the process of photosynthesis creates carbohydrates that get stored in the tree as starch. Because it is largely water, sap also serves to maintain turgor pressure.
The inner portion of the xylem is non-conducting wood that stores starch and is also called the heartwood. Most of the heartwood is dead woody tissue and serves as a repository for many waste products of the tree's living tissue. When xylem becomes lignified it is called wood. This makes the cell walls very tough.
Trees also have a transport tissue or sap called phloem, that transports water and food made in leaves and are moved toward all parts of the tree that are growing, especially the non-woody absorbing roots. They are located just outside the cambium zone and inside the phellogen and the outer bark. When the tree is healthy and growing and sugars are abundant, the extra sugars are stored in the form of starch which can be converted back into sugars and moved by the phloem to where it is needed in the tree.
People and Trees – People and trees both require water because it is essential to all forms of life. Gathering the water is different because people drink water in large amounts through their mouths, while tree roots gather water by absorbing drops found in between soil particles. However, people and trees can both absorb trace amounts of water through their skin and bark or leaves.
Carbohydrates
People – People use carbohydrates from plants for their use as fuel and to satisfy hunger.
Trees – Trees use photosynthesis to manufacture carbohydrates for their use as fuel and to satisfy hunger. The surplus is laid down as wood. Unused oxygen is released into the air during daylight hours as a byproduct of photosynthesis.
People – People take up oxygen in the air through their lungs.
Trees – Trees take up oxygen in the air through the stomata in their leaves and oxygen in the soil pores through their roots.
People – The body will convert oxygen and carbohydrates to energy for growth and release carbon dioxide day and night as a byproduct.
Trees – When trees use carbohydrates, they convert it to energy and carbon dioxide used for growth and release oxygen as a byproduct.
People – Cells in all people can be electrically excitable.
Trees – Cells in all living trees can be electrically excitable.
Nutrition
People – Parents must balance the amount of food consumed by children to their growth rate and size.
Trees – A tree's root system must balance its shoot system with sufficient moisture and nutrients, and the leaves must manufacture enough food to support growth of the root system primarily and above ground growth secondarily.
People – Once they reach their mature size, the amount of food consumed by people generally tapers off.
Trees – Once a mature size has been reached, the amount of food that trees need for growth generally tapers off, just like it does in people.
People – When a person looks sickly or pale, the person is reacting to sickness or nutrient deficiencies. When a doctor fixes the person, the symptoms go away and the person feels better and can resume normal activities.
Trees – When a tree looks sickly or has developed light colored leaves, the tree is reacting to sickness or nutrient deficiencies. When the arborist fixes these problems, the symptoms go away and the tree can resume normal activities.
People – People have an advantage over trees because if living conditions are not just right, people can move to a new location for more food, more safety, or a better climate.
Trees – Trees have an advantage over people. Besides growing from seeds, trees can also survive through regeneration from their stump or root sprouts. Root sprouts occur from dormant buds that have formed during the growth of roots. The sprouts develop as a response to injuries, disease, or other types of disturbance somewhere on the tree. Trees also survive by sowing seeds, and by man-made propagation by cuttings, tissue culture, and divisions. The genetic code may also trigger the development of roots in the cut stems. In all these cases, the trees are genetically identical to the parent.
A tree will draw nutrients and minerals from the soil, break them down and put them back together to form compounds and chemicals that become part of the growing tree. The most common material made by a tree is cellulose. Cellulose is a complex sugar that is the main component of wood and many other plant tissues. It is also an extremely useful material for humans, such as food products, paper, strengthener in plastics and concrete, clothing, and other useful products.
Food
People – People use glucose and oxygen for energy and they exhale carbon dioxide in the process called respiration. This glucose comes from eating plants. People hunt, farm, or go to the store and their gardens to obtain the food they need. Crops used as food are usually surplus produced by people called farmers.
Chemically speaking, the process is similar to the oxidation that occurs as wood is burned, producing heat. When compounds combine with oxygen, the process is often referred to as “burning”, for example, athlete’s “burn” energy (sugars) as they exercise. The harder they exercise, the more sugars they burn so the more oxygen they need. That is why at full speed, they are breathing very fast.
Trees – Trees use carbon dioxide and water plus sunlight for energy to manufacture glucose which is their food and with a by-product of oxygen. The process is called photosynthesis. After photosynthesis produces the sugar glucose, the energy in it is used by trees to drive metabolic processes that produce tissues and maintain life functions.
Trees need energy to grow. This energy is released from the food made by photosynthesis in a process called respiration. In respiration, trees convert the glucose sugar (photosynthates) back into energy for growth and other life and metabolic processes. The released energy drives a variety of metabolic actions. It is the same process that people use when they respire. So, either the plant uses its own stored sugars to grow, or some animal (or decomposer) consumes the plant, and uses those stored sugars for growth. In either case, the sugars are valued chemicals because they contain energy, as well as the important elements of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
People – Athletes take up oxygen through their lungs and cellulose in their mouth. Cellulose is an extremely useful material for humans, such as food products, paper, strengthener in plastics and concrete, clothing, and other things.
Trees – Trees take up oxygen in the air through the stomata in their leaves and oxygen in the soil pores through their roots. A tree will also draw nutrients and minerals from the soil instead of other plants, break them down and put them back together to form compounds and chemicals that become components for a growing tree. The most common material made by a tree is cellulose. Cellulose is a complex sugar that is the main component of wood and many other plant tissues.
People – Surplus food is shared with people in need, who send out messages to charities requesting food.
Trees – Any surplus food is shared with neighboring trees in need. Trees with abundant food and water will transmit messages through their roots between trees, expressing an interest in sharing resources, water, food, and information to those in need.
People – People will generally consume well balanced meals containing sufficient water and nutrients to support growth and activity of the person.
Trees – The development of a root system is dependent upon the tree’s genetics and the tree's response to the soil and the environment. A tree's root system must absorb a balance of food and water for its shoot system to manufacture enough food to support the growth of a tree.
People – When a person has consumed sugar that is not needed for energy production immediately, it is stored in the body and it is commonly called fat.
Trees – When a tree has made sugar that is not needed for tree growth immediately, it is converted to starch in the symplast as chains of sugars stored in stems, the roots and trunk of the tree. In this form and location, it is commonly called wood.
People – Most adults like to drink coffee containing caffeine and will return to their favorite flavor or restaurant to drink it.
Trees – A recent study found that the caffeine produced by a tree's flower may encourage bees to remember a particular tree and return to it, making them more faithful and effective pollinators.
Waste Products
People – Waste is stored in the body's intestinal tract and is dropped out of the body during a daily bowel movement. People's waste products can be processed and used as a fertilizer for trees.
Trees – Autumn leaves containing tree waste are used as chopped leaf mulch or composted leaves are used to become a soil additive to enhance the growth of trees, fruits and vegetables. Waste products such as dead cells and toxins are stored in the tree trunk as wood, where they are covered over with new growth every year and will stay in the tree forever. Waste is also stored in leaves where they drop to the ground to decompose every autumn and serve as a mulch.
People – People consider tree waste products such as dead cells, dried blood, food residue, and toxins stored in the trunks to be of value as lumber.
Trees – Trees respond well when human waste is applied as a fertilizer to enhance tree growth.
Water
People and Trees – Water is needed by all living things. It is vital for people and trees to be able to maintain their fluid levels in very narrow ranges. The goal is to keep the fluid outside the cell, at the same concentration as the fluid inside the cell. Water serves as both the solvent and the means of transport in trees the same way that blood serves the bodies of people and other animals.
About 80% of the cooling effect of a shade tree comes from the evaporative cooling effects of transpiration. This benefits both plants and humans. In humans it is called sweating to cool the body.
People – When people seek water, it is called thirst and it is the craving for fluids, resulting in the basic instinct of animals, including people to drink water. It is an essential mechanism involved in fluid balance. It arises from a lack of fluids or an increase in the concentration of salt. If the water volume of the body falls below a certain level, the brain signals thirst and people could scream for help. The scream is made when air in the windpipe passes over the vocal cords.
Trees – Since trees cannot move, when a drought hits, trees can suffer and start a process called cavitation that makes high-pitched sounds. Scientists have recently found the key to understanding these sounds as cries for help. Because trees make many noises, scientists had not been able to discern which sounds are most worrisome. In the lab, a team of French scientists determined the ultrasonic noise is made by bubbles forming inside water-stressed trees and the bubbles create a noise that sounds like screams. The scream is caused by vibrations when air is replacing water as it flows in the trunk from the roots to the leaves. This discovery could help scientists figure out when trees are parched and need emergency watering.
People – People often take up water and dissolved minerals using a straw as well as a container such as a glass.
Trees – Trees often suck up water dissolved minerals using their roots and fungi's open stomata that function like using a straw.
People – Water is shared by everyone in a city through a network called the municipal water supply. Other times water comes from water bodies and wells dug into the soil.
Trees – If a tree encounters a shortage of water and nutrients, neighboring trees will share their surplus water and nutrients. This sharing occurs within the root systems of all the neighboring trees. The water may also come from water bodies and roots that penetrate deep into the soil.
People – Thirst is the feeling of needing to drink something. It occurs whenever the body is dehydrated for any reason. Thirst is a characteristic symptom of certain medical conditions, most notably Diabetes mellitus. When a person encounters a shortage of water and nutrients, thirst may be accompanied by other signs of dehydration such as decreased urine output, reduced sweating, limited tear production, muscle cramps, weakness, light-headedness, and nausea. Dehydration and thirst may be minor or severe, depending upon the amount of water lost by the body. Drinking plenty of water will usually take care of a person's thirst.
Trees – Besides structure, the primary function of tree roots is to absorb nutrients and water. In addition, the feeder roots have extensions called root hairs that increase root surface area and therefore increase nutrient and water uptake. Then these roots produce hormones in the root meristem that are translocated through the tree to control growth and development.
Air
People – By walking in a natural conifer forest growing in native, moist soil, people are relieved of allergy symptoms in the clean air. Walking in reforested areas of conifers growing in hot, dry, non-native soils will result in people having increased allergy symptoms.
Trees – Natural conifer forests are healthy and provide clean fresh air that is free of air-borne germs. The air is dustier in conifer forests growing in hot, dry soils found in evergreen plantations instead of the natural conifer forests growing on moist soils. The trees do not grow as fast and are also subject to pest and disease problems.
People – Blue skies make people happy because they can be outside and enjoy various activities without fear of stormy weather. Phytoncides released by trees into the forest air greatly improve a person's immune system.
Trees – Blue skies make trees happy because their leaves can photosynthesize at maximum production levels. A tree's health is greatly improved by an abundance of phytoncides which are the essential oils released by trees and plants to defend against insects, animals, and decomposition.
Appearance
People – As people grow up, they are different in size and appearance. Even identical twins may have very slight physical differences because of their personalities, exposure to their individual lifestyles, other people, personal interests, eating habits, illness, etc.
Trees – As trees grow, they are different in size and appearance. Even among cuttings or clones from the same mother tree, there will be differences because of the interaction with sunlight, moisture levels and the soil, competition with other trees, site exposure, etc.
People – People have a head, torso, and feet.
Trees – Trees have limbs, a trunk, and roots.
Respiration
People – Respiration in people is the second half of a two-part process that people use when they respire which is the inhalation and exhalation of air or breathing. When people inhale air or consume food, they use the oxygen and stored sugars for energy to grow. When they exhale, they give off the carbon dioxide as a waste product that is reused by a plant.
Trees – Trees also need energy to grow. This energy is released from the food or sugar made by trees in a process called photosynthesis, which is the first half of respiration. During photosynthesis, trees use light energy from the sun to convert carbon dioxide from the air with water and minerals drawn up from their roots, into sugar, which is energy for growth and other life and metabolic processes. During photosynthesis carbon dioxide from the air generates surplus oxygen which is given off in the air as a waste product. The energy in the sugar is a building block for many other compounds.
People – At night, people continue to inhale oxygen and exhale carbon dioxide through their nose and mouth. They also micro-breathe through their skin.
Trees – At night, when the tree is not photosynthesizing it does the reverse by taking in oxygen and exhaling carbon dioxide. In winter and hibernation when growth has slowed down and leaves have dropped from the branches, the trees breathe through their roots, and also micro-breathe through their bark.
People – People need to rest and sleep. They can suffer from sleep deprivation if they stay up all night or go too long without sleep.
Trees – Trees need to rest and sleep. If a tree was flooded with lights overnight, it would continue making food and would also suffer from sleep deprivation.
People – People rest overnight.
Trees – Trees rest overnight.
Burning
People – People have narrow slits on their faces that are mouths and nostrils. People use their nose and mouth for respiration. They use the oxygen in the air to “burn” energy (sugars) as they exercise. The harder people exercise, the more sugars they are burning so the more oxygen they need. Unused sugars are stored in pockets of glycogen in the muscles and liver.
Trees – Trees take up carbon dioxide and oxygen in the air through the narrow slits of stomata in their leaves and oxygen in the soil pores through their roots. The oxygen is used as part of photosynthesis to create sugars and food for tree growth and the surplus is stored as starch in the wood of the trunk, branches and roots. When wood is combined with oxygen and heat, the process is referred to as “burning”.
Growth Enhancement
People – An environment that encourages physical development is important to people of all ages. A child should eat a well-balanced diet containing carbohydrates, vitamins, minerals, or other supplements. Children need opportunities to develop body strength as well as to develop all their senses of sight, touch, hearing, smell, and taste.
Trees – From the wealth of photosynthesis, plants produce exudates in the form of carbohydrates and proteins. They then share this food with soil microorganisms in exchange for the organisms sourcing minerals and water for the tree. Mother trees in the forest use the underground communication network to nourish their shaded seedlings, which the trees can apparently recognize as kin because other seedlings of unknown parentage wither and die from neglect.
People – Children who are well fed and receive physical exercise are very healthy and grow to their maximum potential. Children and adults need strength and family connections that enable them to deal with life's daily challenges.
Trees – When they are tall enough to reach the light, the sapling grows on without assistance from the mother tree. They react positively toward their mother tree rather than assistance from a different tree. Helping out the relatives is a good way to improve the odds that their genes will survive.
Trees prefer growing in groups, groves, or colonies of the same species. Often a mother tree in the forest will grow surrounded by her seedlings. They are sociable through their root systems connected to other trees around them.
Sometimes a tree in the urban environment is not performing well and may need a nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium fertilizer or a biostimulant which is a product applied by people to assist trees that are struggling in the urban environment instead of the forest where a tree's growth is more normal. When a tree is planted in a city or by itself in a landscape, it will have a much shorter life-span than the same tree in a forest. Fertilizer and biostimulants were originally developed to promote tree root growth and were also used to reduce tree stress, improve tolerance to disease, and improve root quality. Trees in the forest seldom need any assistance with the growth process because of all the available nutrients and micro-organisms that occur naturally in the forest. Trees develop strength in the woods that enables them to resist daily challenges.
People – People like all kinds of food. Grains and meats are very satisfying and promote good growth. People also like a sweet "green" treat after their meal or for a change of pace.
Trees – Trees also know the secret of sweet treats. Pests such as caterpillars often feed on the sweet leaves of trees. The sweet leaves of certain trees contain nectar glands which secrete the same sweet juice as the tree's flowers. Ants will also feed on the leaves to collect the sweet juice, but when the ants get tired of the sweet juice they eat the caterpillars and the tree is happy.
People and Trees – Both require bacteria to break down food into nutrients that can provide food for growth and energy.
People – People tend to be comfortable, happier, and healthier with constant exposure to trees and forests. When trees are removed, people tend to become prone to diseases, violence, and stress.
Trees – When trees are growing in a forest, they are happy, grow rapidly and can work together to fight off pests and diseases. When the trees are growing in a city or among many people, they struggle to grow and are prone to attacks by pests and diseases. They also recover from attacks by people more slowly. The attacks come in the form of cutting into the bark, breaking branches when people are climbing them and compacting the soil around their roots.
People – People who are forced to stop exercising tend to lose weight and reduce in size in order to save essential calories for future growth.
Trees – When the lower leaves are in the shade, the leaves and branches drop off because they are no longer creating food for essential future growth.
Blister
People – An elevation of the surface of skin, containing watery matter or serum, and caused by a burn or any similar swelling from trapped air or water in a surface bubble is called a blister. Its boundaries may be indefinitely outlined, and it could burst and become flattened.
Trees – An elevation of the surface of bark, somewhat resembling the shape of a blister on human skin and its boundaries may be indefinitely outlined and the blister can burst and become flattened. The resin filled blister is easily and commonly spotted on the bark of Abies or Picea.
Circulatory System
People – All blood in a grown person enters the right side of the heart through two veins. One vein collects blood from the upper half of the body and the other vein collects blood from the lower half of the body. Blood leaves the heart and is pumped through the pulmonary artery and into the lungs and digestive system where it is cleaned and it picks up oxygen and nutrients and discards waste collected by the blood. The enriched blood then returns to the heart where it is returned to the upper and lower halves of the body through the arteries.
Trees – Trees have xylem which is living "sapwood" and is located inside the cambial zone and against the heartwood located at the center of the tree’s wood. Xylem carries water absorbed by the roots along with substances and minerals dissolved in the water, and it flows from the roots to the leaves. The water flows upward using capillary action. Most of the water is evaporated from the leaves into the atmosphere in a process called transpiration. As the water evaporates, it is replaced with water coming up from the roots through the xylem tubes, like drinking water through a straw. A small portion of the water is used in the leaves with nutrients and sunlight to create sugars which are then distributed to where they are needed for growth throughout the tree.
Phloem carries this manufactured food or sugars from the leaves toward the roots. When the tree is healthy and growing and sugars are abundant, the extra sugars are stored in the form of starch which can be converted back into sugars and moved by the phloem to where it is needed in the tree. The phloem cells are located between the inner bark and the outside layers of the bark and is the food track to the growing roots.
Fluids
People – When people get overheated, they sweat and the evaporating water cools the skin and the human body.
Trees – When the tree gets overheated water is evaporated from the leaves into the atmosphere in a process called transpiration. This evaporation process cools the tree and the forest around it.
People – Blood moves water and minerals to the heart in veins while blood leaving the heart is in arteries and flows to every part of the body supplying nutrition for growth to those parts.
Trees – During the growing season, xylem moves water (called sap) and minerals such as carbon, sugars and other substances from absorbing non-woody roots to the leaves while phloem transports the sap and energy made in leaves to every living part of the tree on its way to the roots while supplying nutrition for growth to those parts.
People – The bone marrow produces stem cells, the building blocks that the body uses to make the different blood cells--red cells, white cells and platelets. The erythropoietin, a hormone produced primarily by the kidneys, plays a key role in the production of red blood cells. It sends a message to the stem cells telling more of them to develop into red blood cells, rather than white cells or platelets.
Blood also supplies a person's tissues with nutrients, oxygen, etc. and are carried to body cells and then the blood removes waste products that are picked up for excretion. Blood is the fluid that circulates in the principal vascular system of people consisting of plasma in which the red blood cells, white blood cells, and platelets are suspended.
Trees – Tree sap production begins in warm summer months when the process of photosynthesis creates carbohydrates that get stored in the tree as starch. Because it is largely water, sap also serves to maintain turgor pressure.
The inner portion of the xylem is non-conducting wood that stores starch and is also called the heartwood. Most of the heartwood is dead woody tissue and serves as a repository for many waste products of the tree's living tissue. When xylem becomes lignified it is called wood. This makes the cell walls very tough.
Trees also have a transport tissue or sap called phloem, that transports water and food made in leaves and are moved toward all parts of the tree that are growing, especially the non-woody absorbing roots. They are located just outside the cambium zone and inside the phellogen and the outer bark. When the tree is healthy and growing and sugars are abundant, the extra sugars are stored in the form of starch which can be converted back into sugars and moved by the phloem to where it is needed in the tree.
People and Trees – People and trees both require water because it is essential to all forms of life. Gathering the water is different because people drink water in large amounts through their mouths, while tree roots gather water by absorbing drops found in between soil particles. However, people and trees can both absorb trace amounts of water through their skin and bark or leaves.
Carbohydrates
People – People use carbohydrates from plants for their use as fuel and to satisfy hunger.
Trees – Trees use photosynthesis to manufacture carbohydrates for their use as fuel and to satisfy hunger. The surplus is laid down as wood. Unused oxygen is released into the air during daylight hours as a byproduct of photosynthesis.
People – People take up oxygen in the air through their lungs.
Trees – Trees take up oxygen in the air through the stomata in their leaves and oxygen in the soil pores through their roots.
People – The body will convert oxygen and carbohydrates to energy for growth and release carbon dioxide day and night as a byproduct.
Trees – When trees use carbohydrates, they convert it to energy and carbon dioxide used for growth and release oxygen as a byproduct.
People – Cells in all people can be electrically excitable.
Trees – Cells in all living trees can be electrically excitable.
Nutrition
People – Parents must balance the amount of food consumed by children to their growth rate and size.
Trees – A tree's root system must balance its shoot system with sufficient moisture and nutrients, and the leaves must manufacture enough food to support growth of the root system primarily and above ground growth secondarily.
People – Once they reach their mature size, the amount of food consumed by people generally tapers off.
Trees – Once a mature size has been reached, the amount of food that trees need for growth generally tapers off, just like it does in people.
People – When a person looks sickly or pale, the person is reacting to sickness or nutrient deficiencies. When a doctor fixes the person, the symptoms go away and the person feels better and can resume normal activities.
Trees – When a tree looks sickly or has developed light colored leaves, the tree is reacting to sickness or nutrient deficiencies. When the arborist fixes these problems, the symptoms go away and the tree can resume normal activities.
People – People have an advantage over trees because if living conditions are not just right, people can move to a new location for more food, more safety, or a better climate.
Trees – Trees have an advantage over people. Besides growing from seeds, trees can also survive through regeneration from their stump or root sprouts. Root sprouts occur from dormant buds that have formed during the growth of roots. The sprouts develop as a response to injuries, disease, or other types of disturbance somewhere on the tree. Trees also survive by sowing seeds, and by man-made propagation by cuttings, tissue culture, and divisions. The genetic code may also trigger the development of roots in the cut stems. In all these cases, the trees are genetically identical to the parent.
A tree will draw nutrients and minerals from the soil, break them down and put them back together to form compounds and chemicals that become part of the growing tree. The most common material made by a tree is cellulose. Cellulose is a complex sugar that is the main component of wood and many other plant tissues. It is also an extremely useful material for humans, such as food products, paper, strengthener in plastics and concrete, clothing, and other useful products.
Food
People – People use glucose and oxygen for energy and they exhale carbon dioxide in the process called respiration. This glucose comes from eating plants. People hunt, farm, or go to the store and their gardens to obtain the food they need. Crops used as food are usually surplus produced by people called farmers.
Chemically speaking, the process is similar to the oxidation that occurs as wood is burned, producing heat. When compounds combine with oxygen, the process is often referred to as “burning”, for example, athlete’s “burn” energy (sugars) as they exercise. The harder they exercise, the more sugars they burn so the more oxygen they need. That is why at full speed, they are breathing very fast.
Trees – Trees use carbon dioxide and water plus sunlight for energy to manufacture glucose which is their food and with a by-product of oxygen. The process is called photosynthesis. After photosynthesis produces the sugar glucose, the energy in it is used by trees to drive metabolic processes that produce tissues and maintain life functions.
Trees need energy to grow. This energy is released from the food made by photosynthesis in a process called respiration. In respiration, trees convert the glucose sugar (photosynthates) back into energy for growth and other life and metabolic processes. The released energy drives a variety of metabolic actions. It is the same process that people use when they respire. So, either the plant uses its own stored sugars to grow, or some animal (or decomposer) consumes the plant, and uses those stored sugars for growth. In either case, the sugars are valued chemicals because they contain energy, as well as the important elements of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen.
People – Athletes take up oxygen through their lungs and cellulose in their mouth. Cellulose is an extremely useful material for humans, such as food products, paper, strengthener in plastics and concrete, clothing, and other things.
Trees – Trees take up oxygen in the air through the stomata in their leaves and oxygen in the soil pores through their roots. A tree will also draw nutrients and minerals from the soil instead of other plants, break them down and put them back together to form compounds and chemicals that become components for a growing tree. The most common material made by a tree is cellulose. Cellulose is a complex sugar that is the main component of wood and many other plant tissues.
People – Surplus food is shared with people in need, who send out messages to charities requesting food.
Trees – Any surplus food is shared with neighboring trees in need. Trees with abundant food and water will transmit messages through their roots between trees, expressing an interest in sharing resources, water, food, and information to those in need.
People – People will generally consume well balanced meals containing sufficient water and nutrients to support growth and activity of the person.
Trees – The development of a root system is dependent upon the tree’s genetics and the tree's response to the soil and the environment. A tree's root system must absorb a balance of food and water for its shoot system to manufacture enough food to support the growth of a tree.
People – When a person has consumed sugar that is not needed for energy production immediately, it is stored in the body and it is commonly called fat.
Trees – When a tree has made sugar that is not needed for tree growth immediately, it is converted to starch in the symplast as chains of sugars stored in stems, the roots and trunk of the tree. In this form and location, it is commonly called wood.
People – Most adults like to drink coffee containing caffeine and will return to their favorite flavor or restaurant to drink it.
Trees – A recent study found that the caffeine produced by a tree's flower may encourage bees to remember a particular tree and return to it, making them more faithful and effective pollinators.
Waste Products
People – Waste is stored in the body's intestinal tract and is dropped out of the body during a daily bowel movement. People's waste products can be processed and used as a fertilizer for trees.
Trees – Autumn leaves containing tree waste are used as chopped leaf mulch or composted leaves are used to become a soil additive to enhance the growth of trees, fruits and vegetables. Waste products such as dead cells and toxins are stored in the tree trunk as wood, where they are covered over with new growth every year and will stay in the tree forever. Waste is also stored in leaves where they drop to the ground to decompose every autumn and serve as a mulch.
People – People consider tree waste products such as dead cells, dried blood, food residue, and toxins stored in the trunks to be of value as lumber.
Trees – Trees respond well when human waste is applied as a fertilizer to enhance tree growth.
Water
People and Trees – Water is needed by all living things. It is vital for people and trees to be able to maintain their fluid levels in very narrow ranges. The goal is to keep the fluid outside the cell, at the same concentration as the fluid inside the cell. Water serves as both the solvent and the means of transport in trees the same way that blood serves the bodies of people and other animals.
About 80% of the cooling effect of a shade tree comes from the evaporative cooling effects of transpiration. This benefits both plants and humans. In humans it is called sweating to cool the body.
People – When people seek water, it is called thirst and it is the craving for fluids, resulting in the basic instinct of animals, including people to drink water. It is an essential mechanism involved in fluid balance. It arises from a lack of fluids or an increase in the concentration of salt. If the water volume of the body falls below a certain level, the brain signals thirst and people could scream for help. The scream is made when air in the windpipe passes over the vocal cords.
Trees – Since trees cannot move, when a drought hits, trees can suffer and start a process called cavitation that makes high-pitched sounds. Scientists have recently found the key to understanding these sounds as cries for help. Because trees make many noises, scientists had not been able to discern which sounds are most worrisome. In the lab, a team of French scientists determined the ultrasonic noise is made by bubbles forming inside water-stressed trees and the bubbles create a noise that sounds like screams. The scream is caused by vibrations when air is replacing water as it flows in the trunk from the roots to the leaves. This discovery could help scientists figure out when trees are parched and need emergency watering.
People – People often take up water and dissolved minerals using a straw as well as a container such as a glass.
Trees – Trees often suck up water dissolved minerals using their roots and fungi's open stomata that function like using a straw.
People – Water is shared by everyone in a city through a network called the municipal water supply. Other times water comes from water bodies and wells dug into the soil.
Trees – If a tree encounters a shortage of water and nutrients, neighboring trees will share their surplus water and nutrients. This sharing occurs within the root systems of all the neighboring trees. The water may also come from water bodies and roots that penetrate deep into the soil.
People – Thirst is the feeling of needing to drink something. It occurs whenever the body is dehydrated for any reason. Thirst is a characteristic symptom of certain medical conditions, most notably Diabetes mellitus. When a person encounters a shortage of water and nutrients, thirst may be accompanied by other signs of dehydration such as decreased urine output, reduced sweating, limited tear production, muscle cramps, weakness, light-headedness, and nausea. Dehydration and thirst may be minor or severe, depending upon the amount of water lost by the body. Drinking plenty of water will usually take care of a person's thirst.
Trees – Besides structure, the primary function of tree roots is to absorb nutrients and water. In addition, the feeder roots have extensions called root hairs that increase root surface area and therefore increase nutrient and water uptake. Then these roots produce hormones in the root meristem that are translocated through the tree to control growth and development.
Air
People – By walking in a natural conifer forest growing in native, moist soil, people are relieved of allergy symptoms in the clean air. Walking in reforested areas of conifers growing in hot, dry, non-native soils will result in people having increased allergy symptoms.
Trees – Natural conifer forests are healthy and provide clean fresh air that is free of air-borne germs. The air is dustier in conifer forests growing in hot, dry soils found in evergreen plantations instead of the natural conifer forests growing on moist soils. The trees do not grow as fast and are also subject to pest and disease problems.
People – Blue skies make people happy because they can be outside and enjoy various activities without fear of stormy weather. Phytoncides released by trees into the forest air greatly improve a person's immune system.
Trees – Blue skies make trees happy because their leaves can photosynthesize at maximum production levels. A tree's health is greatly improved by an abundance of phytoncides which are the essential oils released by trees and plants to defend against insects, animals, and decomposition.
Physical Functions
Hormones
People – Human hormones include amino acid derived hormones, eicosanoid, peptide, and steroids in the body, and they all play an important role in growth and vigor.
Trees – Genetic information in trees directs the synthesis and development of enzymes and phytohormones (plant hormones) which are critical in all metabolic processes within the tree. Most enzymes are proteins, auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, abscisic acid, and ethylene in some form or another. They are produced in very minute quantities and are produced within the tree.
People – A healthy diet appropriate to the age of the person is essential for normal growth. To create a healthy diet, include enough calories for energy, with proper amounts of carbohydrate, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals.
Trees – Vitamins are vital in the activation of enzymes and are produced in a gel-like substance enclosed within the membranes of tree cells.
Health Care
People – When important people get sick they go to a doctor for care and treatment advice and nurses who apply the treatments. People will also utilize their hormones to generate immunity.
Trees – When special trees get sick they are treated by researchers who discover treatments and arborists to who apply the treatments. Trees will also treat themselves by generating plant hormones for treatment.
People – The medical practitioner assessing a patient's vitals checks temperature with a thermometer.
Trees – Arborists, landscape architects, planners, and urban design professionals check a tree's temperature by thermal imaging.
People – Humans rely on homeostasis to keep their core temperature hovering around 98.6 degrees, so that their bodies can maintain proper function.
Trees – Homeostasis in the forest is the ability to maintain a relatively stable environment that persists despite changes in the human world outside the forest.
People – Humans often need support to walk and nursing care when reaching a very old age.
Trees – Trees often need support to grow straight at a very young age or being transplanted, while limbs sometimes need support from an arborist or landscape architect when they are too long or too heavy at a very old age.
Growth Regulators
People – Genetic information regulates the production of hormones in people as chemical messengers produced by endocrine glands in the body and released into the bloodstream.
Trees – Genetic information in trees directs the synthesis and development of enzymes and phytohormones (plant hormones) which are critical in all metabolic processes within the tree.
People – Growth regulators affect the function of cells throughout the body. The thyroid hormone, thyroxin, helps control the metabolism of various body tissues. Too little thyroxin (hypothyroidism) results in poor growth and excess weight gain. Too much hyperthyroidism can mean unexplained weight loss, even in children who are eating well.
Trees – Tree hormones are transported in the xylem or phloem from one part of the tree to another as needed. In general, hormone and vitamin effects are similar and are difficult to distinguish in trees, and both are referred to in general as tree growth regulators.
People – The liver and other tissues change the growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland into a hormone called an insulin-like growth factor. This hormone affects bone growth throughout the body. Adrenal glands sit on top of each kidney.
Trees – There are other hormones that impact tree growth. Auxins are hormones involved in plant-cell elongation, apical dominance, and rooting. The hormone ethylene is responsible for the ripening of fruits. Cytokines promote cell division in trees.
Stress
People – People suffer with stress from physical, pathological, and climatic factors.
Trees – Trees also suffer with stress from physical, pathological, and mostly climatic factors.
People – People have defense and recovery strategies to deal with stress. They are frequently misunderstood by other people as well as misunderstanding their actions against trees.
Trees – Trees have defense and recovery strategies in their dealings with stress. They are frequently misunderstood by people who cause undue stress to trees.
People – People who may go to a public event and with other people are happy and are enjoying the event. But when there are too many people in attendance, people become uncomfortable and complain about the lack of personal space.
Trees – While the lateral branches grow toward the other trees, they stop growing just before they reach the other trees. In a sense they are giving other trees their "own space", although the tree's reason is to allow both trees access to sunlight.
People – Stress in people is a specific response by the body to a stimulus that disturbs or interferes with the normal activities. When stressful situations arise, people devote their efforts into doing what they can to build their immunity and change the circumstances so they may take steps to reduce or eliminate the stress.
Trees – Trees are not free of disease or stress but have the capacity to resist the effects of stress. Trees have developed complex biochemical processes that enable them to build their immunity and detect, respond to, and survive the many environmental stresses they encounter during their potentially long lifespans, outdoors and dealing with all types of weather, disease, and pests.
People – When a person is trying to breathe with only a small part of their lungs available, it is hard to do. There is plenty of oxygen around but the person does not have the tools available to absorb it. The person is actually operating with a compromised breathing system.
Trees – When young trees are dug from a nursery, they typically retain only 10-20% of their root system. The rest of the roots are left where the young tree originally grew. Thus, the newly transplanted trees may be operating with a much smaller root system than what they really need. The tree is actually operating with a compromised root system.
People – People make decisions or responses based entirely on the flow of auxin and other chemical signals. Stress in people can alter the molecular wrapping around the chromosomes which, in turn, determines which genes will be silenced and which are expressed. This so-called “epigenetic” effect can persist and sometimes be passed down to offspring.
Trees – Trees make decisions or responses based entirely on the flow of auxin and other chemical signals. Trees suffer with stress from physical, pathological, and mostly climatic factors. Trees have defense and recovery strategies in their dealings with stress. They are frequently misunderstood by people who add undue stress to trees.
The threshold over which essential physiological processes in trees are slowed down or completely inhibited is 86°F (30°C), especially if other stresses like drought are added to this. To lessen the impact, city trees should be heavily mulched to minimize the heating effect of the paved surface and to allow air and water to reach the roots. Only those species and cultivars known to tolerate high temperatures should be selected for installation in heavily paved areas.
Carbon Dioxide Levels
People – Exposure to high carbon dioxide levels can cause humans to suffer with an increase in headaches, double vision, an inability to concentrate, and perhaps have seizures. This will eventually result in the displacement of oxygen with carbon dioxide in the air and cause animal and human suffocation.
Trees – Trees will suffer when levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rise as a result of global warming. Most trees will thicken their leaves and scientists have shown that this reaction will actually worsen climate change by making the global 'carbon sink' contributed by trees, less productive. In other words, the more carbon dioxide that is in the air, the less carbon dioxide that trees will absorb. But that does not mean we should stop planting trees to fight global warming.
Temperature Response
People – Most people are comfortable in summer and are active when outdoor temperatures are between 65° and 89°F (18° and 32°C). When people get overheated, they begin to sweat. The sweat evaporates from the skin surface and cools the body down. It usually takes a person at least a half-hour to cool down after an overheated episode.
Trees – Maximum growth in most tree species occurs in early summer when temperatures range between 65° – 89°F (18° – 32°C) depending on species, with maximum temperatures for active growth slowing between 77° and 100°F (25° and 38°C). Minimum summer temperatures for growth ranging from 35° to 52°F (2° to 11°C). Trees pump moisture out of their leaves to cool themselves and the forest down.
People – People who experience high temperatures will also seek relief by moving into the shade of a tree, or become submerged in water. However, by working together, people have invented air conditioning to alter the temperature and level of humidity in their buildings.
Trees – In the forest, besides creating shade with their leaves, a group of trees working together sharing food and communications to create an ecosystem that can moderate the weather (heat and cold) and move water to alter the level of humidity and temperature. This creates a micro-climate suitable for tree growth and sustenance. As water is pumped out the leaf stomata, the evaporating moisture cools the forest and brings the temperature down. As water passes through the trees faster than normal, the trees become cooler internally as well as helping to lower the temperature within the forest.
In addition, the warm weather signals trees to work together and release terpenes, which is sap that is evaporated into the atmosphere surrounding the forest, where it acts as a natural form of cloud seeding. Scientists now realize that the resulting clouds that form, help to block sunlight and cool the forest, providing a second way that the forest trees can regulate the temperature. Forest trees can also deal with weather changes year-round.
People – Most people are uncomfortable in winter when temperatures range from 35° to 52°F (2° to 11°C). People can work outdoors in winter at a reduced level of productivity, but will suffer and can be killed in 10 minutes when temperatures drop to the -4° to 23°F (-20° to -5°C) level.
Trees – Root growth will continue in areas with mild winter temperatures. Roots can continue to grow in non-frozen soil, but cold soil temperatures will reduce the rate of growth. Root tissues of woody plants can be killed at soil temperatures of -4° to 23°F (-5° to -20°C).
People – In winter people add coats and layers of clothing to protect their bodies from the cold of winter. People also deal with bad winter weather by seeking shelter and staying inside. People can not individually alter the weather. However, by working together, people have invented heaters to alter the temperature in their buildings. The mobility of people also allows them to relocate to warmer climates during the winter months.
Trees – In cold weather, leaf cell membranes lose their fluid properties and become coated with a thick waxy gel-like anti-freeze called ceutical. Also in cold conditions more unsaturated fatty acids are placed in the cell membranes while in hot conditions more saturated fatty acids are inserted.
In autumn, the declining length of daylight triggers deciduous trees to break down their chlorophyll for storage where it can be brought back in the spring. Each leaf forms an abscission layer which allows the leaf to separate from the stem. This allows the tree to survive winter storms. These trees evolved when the tilt of the earth, millions of years ago, left little sunlight in the polar region and the evergreen trees could not photosynthesize. In the summer months, the broad leaves of deciduous trees allowed the tree to make up for lost growing time. Conifers fill their needles with antifreeze and coat the needle with wax that prevents water from leaving the tree over winter. The thin needles are less likely to be damaged by winter storms.
Looking closely at a cross section of a tree stump, lies the evidence about how trees survive the climate. Each growth ring consists of a wider, light-colored area to the inside of a thin dark area. The light-colored area is growth that occurs during the summer months, when sap flows freely through the tree and growth occurs very quickly. Conversely, the darker-colored section occurs during the winter, as the tree's genetic code sends out signals to build up a layer of dead cells to protect the fresh summer growth. This outer layer of the growth ring works with the cambium layer and bark to protect the tree from the cold of winter. To prepare for the winter months, trees will also pull down the majority of it's sap from the upper reaches of the trees to help keep it from freezing.
Skin
People – Skin is a barrier that protects the internal parts of the human body from diseases and damage in the world and it prevents many diseases from invading and spreading through other people's bodies.
Trees – Trees have skin that functions the same way, except we call it bark. The major differences between bark and skin are the words and not the functions. Bark is a barrier that protects a tree from diseases and damage to the tree. The bark blocks pathogens that could cause harm and spread through the tree in the xylem and phloem systems.
People – The epidermis is the outermost layer of skin. The dermis, beneath the epidermis, contains tough connective tissues called capillaries which distribute oxygenated blood from the arteries to the tissues of the body. The skin originates beneath the dermis layer of skin. It is formed as an inner layer of skin and as new inner layers are made, the outer layers fall off in flakes.
Trees – The outer bark is the outermost layer of bark. The inner layer of bark, called phloem tissue, carries the food produced in the leaves to parts of the tree where it is utilized for growth. Both inner bark (phloem) and wood (xylem) originate in the vascular cambium layer of cells. Bark is toward the outside where the oldest layers may slough off, and wood toward the inside where it accumulates as dead tissue.
People – Skin is smooth and flexible when the person is young and it conforms to the bones and muscles. But wrinkles appear with age and the skin sheds flakes and dried cells that are not noticeable. Although in the scalp it is noticeable, and it is called dandruff.
Trees – The bark is usually smooth and flexible when the tree is young and the bark conforms to the trunk, wood, branches and unions. With age, bark develops deep fissures and plates, a firm surface, and cracks. Bark sheds flakes and dried cells that are not noticeable. Some trees shed large amounts of bark cells every year while smooth barked trees like canoe birch (Betula papyrifera), shed thin layers of the outer-most layer of bark.
People – Skin is a barrier that protects people's inner tissues and functions from diseases and damage to the body. In addition, skin blocks pathogens that would cause harm and spread through the circulatory system. The skin will sometimes develop diseases such as acne or attract insects such as mosquitoes which may transmit diseases.
Trees – Bark is a barrier that protects the tree's inner functions from pests and diseases. However, the bark will sometimes attract insect pests and diseases such as a fungus that will cause problems such as Black Rot caused by the fungus Diplodia seriata that kills fruit trees or an insect, like Agrilus anxius, bronze birch borer, that kills birch trees.
People – Skin is harmed by an excess amount of sunlight making it become sunburned. Generally, people wear clothes or apply sunscreen lotion to protect the person's skin. Skin that is exposed to moderate sunlight becomes “tanned”. Some people invest heavily in body lotions to protect skin, which trees cannot do. However, people do wear clothes and seek the shade of a tree to protect their skin from excessive sun rays.
Trees – Bark is sometimes harmed by an excess amount of sunlight although generally, the tree's leaves can move around to protect the tree's bark. Trees protect themselves from excess sunlight by adjusting the angle of their leaves to block the sun from overheating the bark as well as to maximize photosynthesis production.
People – Skin also holds in bodily fluids while it releases and absorbs gas and moisture through pores and sweat glands. The skin also performs micro breathing. Without skin the human body would dry out and die.
Trees – Bark protects the flow of life supporting fluids while it releases and absorbs gas and moisture. The bark also performs micro breathing. Without bark, the tree would dry out and die.
People – When people shed their clothes, they are naked.
Trees – When deciduous trees shed their leaves, they are naked or dormant.
People – Skin controls the limits of the average adult human body which is about 65% water.
Trees – Bark controls the limits of an average tree which is about 75% water.
People – As skin ages, it becomes thick, less flexible, and develops folds and wrinkles while generating new skin cells to replace dying cells that are shedding off.
Trees – As bark ages, it becomes thicker and develops wrinkles or ridges, while generating new cells to replace dying cells that are becoming wood within the inner bark. The outer bark peels and dries out, shedding the outer bark cells.
People – Skin is sensitive to contact which is either pleasant and makes the person desire more, or it is painful which generates a defensive response. If the skin is cut, the person feels pain.
Trees – Bark may appear hard and strong, but it is also sensitive to contact which is harmless or it might generate a defensive response and if the bark is torn the tree feels pain.
People – Skin may be shed in small amounts during bathing and normal rubbing from clothing. Skin is most often shed because of normal human growth. It might also be the result of disease or injuries such as blisters or sunburn when the person spent too much time in the sun without protection.
Trees – Bark may be shed by normal rubbing of the branches, the normal shedding process, and weather changes. Bark is most often shed because of normal annual tree growth in diameter. Shedding bark can also be a symptom of a disease or sunburn caused by the loss of something that had provided shade to where the damaged bark occurred.
People – People grow without breaking their skin, old skin becomes wrinkled. A cut on the skin is very uncomfortable.
Trees – Trees grow by expanding their diameter without breaking the bark. When the tree is older the breaks on the older bark, which is at the surface, may crack, but it does not seem to harm the tree. A break or cut to the inner bark is as uncomfortable for the tree as a break or cut on the skin is for people.
People – The lines on a fingerprint are never duplicated from finger to finger, even between twins.
Trees – The rings on a cross-section from a tree stump are never duplicated even among trees growing from the same parent, or are side by side.
People – People have growth rings just like trees. The rings are found in a cross-section of teeth. As baby teeth grow in layers, their rate varies which changes the width of the growth ring. Dentists will slice the tooth in half to examine a baby tooth to verify the child's growth rate and to detect any environmental or health concerns. The tooth can only be examined when the child has grown permanent teeth and forced the baby teeth out of its mouth.
Trees – Trees have growth rings that are found on a cross-section of a limb or the tree's trunk. Every year a new ring is formed over the old ring. The width of the cross-section ring will allow arborists and dendrologists determine the tree's growth rate, age and any environmental or health concerns. The growth rings can be examined with a core sample or more often by looking at the rings on the stump when the tree has been cut down.
People & Trees – Just for fun, look at how much the lines from a fingerprint look like the cross-section rings from a tree stump.
People & Trees – People like to hug trees. The proper way to hug a tree is to press your cheek against the trunk and feel the warmth and currents flowing from the tree into yourself. It starts in your toes and runs up your legs and through your body into your brain. It is also good to close your eyes while hugging the tree. You get such a good relaxing feeling and realize that you are ready for a new day and new challenges. You can do it daily. Do not rush a tree hug. Holding a tree in your arms for five minutes a day should be enough. Trees give out the most energy during the summer. Be careful not to just hug for a moment. Take hold of the tree and wait until you begin to feel the quiet warmth starting to flow out of the tree and into you.
Maintenance
People – People have bones that are connected together to become a skeleton that gives the body its shape.
Trees – A tree's skeleton is its trunk and branches. They are all connected together to give the tree its shape.
People – People have joints called elbows and knees that are larger in diameter than the bones above and below the joint.
Trees – Trees have joints called crotches that are larger in diameter than the wood above and below the joint.
People – People have a crotch where the body splits into two legs. However, the split appears as an up-side-down “Y” shape.
Trees – Trees have a crotch where a single trunk splits into two limbs. The split appears as a “Y” shape.
People – People have muscles that allow bones to bend at joints and provide movement to the body. Bones and muscles push against gravitational forces allowing the person to grow straight and vertical.
Trees – Branch and trunk growth can control and correct the posture of the tree by applying forces to cells in the bark and growth tissues within the trunk. This effort pushes against the gravitational forces to make the tree to grow straight and vertical.
People – During heavy winds, people turn sideways against a prevailing wind. People will seek shelter during very heavy windstorms.
Trees – During heavy winds, branches bend and sway back and forth and sideways to lessen the impact of the wind. Trees cannot move out of the wind, but will shed a co-dominant stem and/or leaves during very heavy windstorms. Trees also develop a longer cross section of trunk growth, parallel to the wind, to provide extra strength in prevailing strong winds.
People – Education will develop the mind of a child toward becoming a productive and sustainable adult. Adding braces to the teeth of young children, will guide the growing teeth into proper locations which results in sustainable dental care. Monitoring a child's weight during growth, will minimize an under- or over-weight adult. Glasses will correct eyesight problems. All the corrections are optional. Failure to correct these problems in youth results in weakness as the person grows older.
Trees – Structural pruning results in proper spacing between limbs as the tree grows larger. Pruning small branches is best done on young trees to develop good branch architecture which results in sustainable trees with minimal chance of failure. All the pruning corrections are optional. Failure of proper pruning results in weakness as the tree grows older.
Injury
People – People feel pain and need acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) to relieve the pain. If people do not feel pain, then they ignore the danger and may not survive. (Acetylsalicylic acid comes from the bark of the willow tree Salix.)
Trees – When trees are injured or stressed, they feel the pain and produce the chemical ethylene that works the same as aspirin on people and the chemical ethylene relieves the pain. The time it takes trees to signal or respond to stimuli is much slower (1/3 inch of travel time per second) than a person's millisecond travel time response. So, it might take a tree an hour before defensive compounds can reach the injury and spoil the pest's meal. If the tree cannot repair the injury, the tree might not survive.
People – When children have wounds, they heal more quickly than adults and small wounds heal more quickly than large wounds.
Trees – Wounds on saplings heal more quickly than the same wound on a mature tree. Small wounds heal more quickly than large wounds, so it is better if trees are given their structural pruning when they are young and within 2 or 3 years after transplanting to their final location to avoid the removal of large limbs that are slower to heal.
People – When a person has a festering wound like scabies that take a long time to heal, they leave behind a rough skin. Sometimes fungi and bacteria get into the skin and severely weaken the person.
Trees – When tree bark is attacked with a pest such as woolly scale, it can completely envelop the tree truck with their waxy silvery wool that leaves behind a rough and scabby bark. Sometimes fungi and bacteria get into the tree and severely weaken the tree so much that it dies.
People – When skin is cut or scraped, a person begins bleeding. This is because blood vessels in the area are damaged. Bleeding serves a useful purpose because it helps to clean out a wound before forming a crust or serosanguineous (scab) of dried blood. The scab is formed to quickly cover and protect the skin below the wound. The scab is a layer of protective cells and tissues that become the body's attempt to cover a wound with a temporary barrier. The scab stays in place until the wounded skin has been completely replaced and the scab then falls off. It is a natural part of healing. Bleeding can weaken a person, but will not necessarily permanently harm the person. Usually they will heal and survive and the blood is replenished by the stem cells in the bone marrow.
Trees – When tree bark is cut, wounded by insect infestation, disease, pruning cuts or broken branches, the cells surrounding the injury will chemically and physically change themselves to prevent the spread of decay. The tree does not actually heal. Instead, new wood tissue begins growing to cover the wound. This is the copious production and exudation of gum by a diseased or damaged tree. Gummosis serves a useful purpose because it helps to close the wound prior to the start of CODIT and the tree begins gummosis to "wall off" or compartmentalization (CODIT) the injured portion of the branch or trunk to prevent disease or pests from spreading into healthy tissue and vascular cambium. Gummosis can weaken a tree, but oozing of sap from a tree, although not normal, will not necessarily permanently harm a tree and usually most of them will survive.
Various metabolites may also detect early stages of stress before the appearance of symptoms such as reductions in woody growth, crown deterioration, or tree death. By resisting the spread of decay, damage, and infections, the boundaries protect and preserve the water, air, and mechanical support systems of the tree. Meanwhile new wood tissue begins growing to cover the wound. When the wound is completely sealed, the covering tissue has become bark cells on the surface and wood cells underneath.
People – If the wound is from surgery, the doctor will provide breathable bandages to control the bleeding and encourage fast healing. Bandages that seal over the wound trap harmful bacteria in the wound and are not recommended.
Trees – If the wound is caused by pruning, the arborist will try to make the cut as small as possible and prune when sap flow is expected to be slow to encourage fast healing, but allow exposure to the air. Painting over a wound is not recommended because it can seal harmful bacteria and disease in the tree.
People – People have muscles and bones that are used to support potential weaknesses.
Trees – Trees have wood that is used to support potential weaknesses.
People – If people have a surface wound, they heal inward from the edge of the wound.
Trees – If trees have a surface wound, they also heal inward from the edge of the wound.
People – People have fractures called broken bones. When the bone is reset and immobilized in its proper position it will heal as the bone knits back together.
Trees – Trees have branches that can be broken. A broken branch can be immobilized and it will heal at the surface, with support, or if the broken branch is removed, the tree will compartmentalize the wood tissues around the edge of the cut and CODIT begins the “healing” to seal off the wound from harmful bacteria.
People – If people have a major wound, the same efforts apply as indicated above, only at a larger scale.
Trees – Trees can alter wood that forms around the margin of wounds and trees also have the ability to alter cell forms in response to a lean in the stem that could lead to a fracture. As trees sway, new tissues form in new positions that constantly adjust to potential weaknesses. When a radial crack does rupture the cambium, then wound wood formation starts and this adds strength to that portion of the trunk.
People – People are different in their individual healing schemes due to their individual health and cellular structure.
Trees – Trees are different in their individual healing schemes due to their individual health and cellular structure.
People – A person's medical history can be observed by looking at scars from wounds.
Trees – The healing process leaves visible evidence of the previous wound scars.
People – When people get ill, they may get pale and lethargic. This will get the attention of doctors who may have a cure for the illness or a treatment to fight the cause of the harm.
Trees – Trees change leaf colors when they get ill. This will get the attention of arborists who may have a cure for an illness or pest that is causing harm. Especially arborists who hope to have cures for any disease or pest that harms a tree.
People – People have an internal clock, called circadian rhythm which is a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. It is most noticeable when waking up in the morning without an alarm clock and sense hunger before mealtime. Or when they sense cooling weather is a sign of the coming winter.
Trees – Trees also have circadian rhythm that tells them when to open flowers for when their favorite insects are most ready to pollinate them. Or when to begin to activate the abscission layer to drop their leaves in autumn and when to open their buds for new leaves in spring. Circadian rhythm also tells a tree whether it is day or night.
People and Trees – There are a few pests that present problems to both people and trees. The oak processionary moth is a problem to people because the caterpillars are covered with fine stinging hairs that break off when you touch them and make their way under the human skin where they release substances that itch and cause welts and sometimes even start an acute allergic reaction. Trees do not like this pest because the caterpillars love to eat oak tree leaves and hide from predators using thick webs on the trunk bark where they retreat to molt as they grow.
Health Care
People – Human health care is an enormous social and economic issue. Extensive research is being conduced to improve health care with the best medications, operations, and therapies. Much of the research is being conducted by a federal government, drug manufacturers, and research hospitals.
Trees – The care that is necessary to keep a tree healthy is an enormous social and economic issue. Tree care researchers are looking for cures to control pests and diseases with trunk injections, whole tree spraying and pruning techniques, depending on the problem and the best solution. Much of the research is being conducted by a federal government, the drug manufacturers and research colleges.
People and Trees – People have gone to trees to search for a cure of an illness because trees sometimes contain a product that cures a problem that a person might have. For example, some people develop cancer in parts of their body. The yew tree (Taxus) provides Taxoil that cures certain cancers. Another potential drug that can kill cancer cells has recently been discovered in the bark of willow (Salix) trees, sparking hope for a new treatment of childhood cancers. It comes more than a century after an aspirin active ingredient was discovered in the willow bark. Scientists working with cancer biologists have discovered the chemical, miyabeacin, which has been found to kill various cancer cells, including those resistant to other drugs, is also found in willow bark. The researchers are particularly excited about miyabeacin’s success against neuroblastoma, a hard to treat and common childhood cancer where the overall survival rate is below 50 per cent.
Malaria is a potentially deadly disease to people. Quineine from the Cinchona tree (Cinchoneae) is the world’s best anti-malarial drug. Alder (Alnus) bark contains salicin, the same anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing compound in willow (Salix) bark. Willow bark is also used externally to treat wounds. The leaves of beech (Fagus) trees are antibacterial and they were used by Native Americans for treating tuberculosis and are also used as a poultice (a soft, warm moist mass, spread on cloth and placed over the skin) for burns.
Maple (Acer) and brich (Betula) both produce sap that may be used directly from the tree for its medicinal properties and potential cures, as well as being boiled for a sweet syrup. Slippery elm tree (Ulmus rubra) is soothing and contains mucilage that can help mucous membrane issues and is most commonly used to soothe the digestive tract and sensitive stomachs. Hawthorn (Crataegus sp.) berries and flowers have cardiac benefits, and it’s been used to strengthen the heart and lower blood pressure. Hazelnuts (Corylus) are full of healthy fats and science is showing that they are useful in maintaining healthy heart functions. Oak (Quercus) bark and leaves can help disinfect wounds, and the tannins strengthen blood vessels. It’s commonly used as a gargle for bleeding gums.
Aging
People – As people become older, their hair decreases in thickness, color, and vigor.
Trees – As a tree ages, it becomes slower growing, the leaves lose their dark color, and gradually stop growing. When the branches fall off, they are not replaced.
People – The aging process and poor health or other environmental issues results in more frequent illness and declining organ vitality, along with a slower response time to resume normal functions.
Trees – The aging process and droughts or other environmental issues result in more frequent disease and pest attacks along with a slower response time to heal and resume normal functions.
People – As people get older they slow down in their actions and workloads and they develop an increase in width around their middle, while various body parts begin to fail. This usually corresponds to a person's retirement from active work.
Trees – Trees redirect their growth to lower branches making the middle of the tree wider. The tree will also lose vigor, drop limbs and decline in active growth.
Very Old People – People in their nineties often lose body mass, and as they begin losing their body mass, they cannot eat enough to replace it.
Ancient Trees – The twigs on many branches of a very old tree begin to die off leaving only the main trunks and largest limbs, because the trees have no energy to replace the twigs.
People – As people age, the communication links begin to dwindle in number and length of conversation.
Trees – As trees get older, they may not grow as fast as a young tree, but the roots do keep growing and transmitting messages, even after the death of the tree above ground.
Energy Production
People – People are good at solving their problems. To obtain energy, people are able to eat plants and drink water that provide an abundance of food and energy.
Trees – Trees are amazingly good in solving their problems. To solve their energy needs, trees are able to grow through shady areas to find sunlight and most turn their leaves toward the sun during the day to capture the best angle to maximize their photosynthetic production and create an abundance of food and energy. Their roots grow toward moist areas to find water.
People – People use communication and their mobility to solve all their life survival needs. People are creative and have developed speaking, reading, and listening devices to communicate. People can also communicate by scent with the use of deodorants and perfumes. Even with deodorants to mask a bad odor, people have an aroma from their pheromones produced as sweat and that other people can smell and detect both consciously and subconsciously. The pheromones in sweat are a decisive factor when we choose a partner with whom we wish to procreate.
Trees – Even though they have no mobility, most trees use scent for communication with neighboring trees to protect themselves from pests and at the same time to produce sugars for themselves and make surplus food available for other trees in need. Trees also use color, trickery, and scents to lure in insects, birds, animals and the wind, to spread their pollen and seeds. New research finds that some trees can distinguish between different pollinators and only generate their pollen for their best pollinator. The Catalpa tree flower provides lower lip that is designed for bumble bees to use as a landing pad to get into their flower. The Catalpa flower also has two rows of red dots leading to the nectar so the bee knows where to go. While on the way to the nectar the bee walks under the anthers on a male flower where pollen is brushed into the hairs on the back of the bee. When the bee flies off to a female flower the pollen is transferred onto the sticky stigma and a seed begins to develop.
People – People have a large arsenal to ward off predators and ensure survival of themselves and their offspring. People use doctors who are skilled and know the right medicine for a problem.
Trees – When a tree’s leaves are infected or chewed by insects the tree emits a volatile chemical called a pheromone that signals other leaves and trees to mount a defense. Sometimes this warning signal contains information about the identity of the insect, gleaned from the tree's leaf taste of the pest's saliva chewing on the leaves. Sometimes the defense might involve altering the leaf’s flavor or texture, or producing toxic pheromones, pest specific scents, or other compounds that render the tree’s leaves less digestible to herbivores. Since the tree is able to identify a pest they must have a sense of taste.
When trees are broken down to a fine powder at a pulp mill, the cellulose molecule extracted from pulp is the same cellulose found in the plant cell walls of fruits and vegetables. It is one of the most common food additives and has been FDA-approved since the mid-1900s.
When used in food, tree cellulose is refined to become as pure as possible. People's bodies process high purity, food-grade cellulose like any other insoluble fiber. We do not absorb or digest it, rather it passes through our body.
Hormones
People – Human hormones include amino acid derived hormones, eicosanoid, peptide, and steroids in the body, and they all play an important role in growth and vigor.
Trees – Genetic information in trees directs the synthesis and development of enzymes and phytohormones (plant hormones) which are critical in all metabolic processes within the tree. Most enzymes are proteins, auxins, gibberellins, cytokinins, abscisic acid, and ethylene in some form or another. They are produced in very minute quantities and are produced within the tree.
People – A healthy diet appropriate to the age of the person is essential for normal growth. To create a healthy diet, include enough calories for energy, with proper amounts of carbohydrate, fat, protein, vitamins and minerals.
Trees – Vitamins are vital in the activation of enzymes and are produced in a gel-like substance enclosed within the membranes of tree cells.
Health Care
People – When important people get sick they go to a doctor for care and treatment advice and nurses who apply the treatments. People will also utilize their hormones to generate immunity.
Trees – When special trees get sick they are treated by researchers who discover treatments and arborists to who apply the treatments. Trees will also treat themselves by generating plant hormones for treatment.
People – The medical practitioner assessing a patient's vitals checks temperature with a thermometer.
Trees – Arborists, landscape architects, planners, and urban design professionals check a tree's temperature by thermal imaging.
People – Humans rely on homeostasis to keep their core temperature hovering around 98.6 degrees, so that their bodies can maintain proper function.
Trees – Homeostasis in the forest is the ability to maintain a relatively stable environment that persists despite changes in the human world outside the forest.
People – Humans often need support to walk and nursing care when reaching a very old age.
Trees – Trees often need support to grow straight at a very young age or being transplanted, while limbs sometimes need support from an arborist or landscape architect when they are too long or too heavy at a very old age.
Growth Regulators
People – Genetic information regulates the production of hormones in people as chemical messengers produced by endocrine glands in the body and released into the bloodstream.
Trees – Genetic information in trees directs the synthesis and development of enzymes and phytohormones (plant hormones) which are critical in all metabolic processes within the tree.
People – Growth regulators affect the function of cells throughout the body. The thyroid hormone, thyroxin, helps control the metabolism of various body tissues. Too little thyroxin (hypothyroidism) results in poor growth and excess weight gain. Too much hyperthyroidism can mean unexplained weight loss, even in children who are eating well.
Trees – Tree hormones are transported in the xylem or phloem from one part of the tree to another as needed. In general, hormone and vitamin effects are similar and are difficult to distinguish in trees, and both are referred to in general as tree growth regulators.
People – The liver and other tissues change the growth hormone produced by the pituitary gland into a hormone called an insulin-like growth factor. This hormone affects bone growth throughout the body. Adrenal glands sit on top of each kidney.
Trees – There are other hormones that impact tree growth. Auxins are hormones involved in plant-cell elongation, apical dominance, and rooting. The hormone ethylene is responsible for the ripening of fruits. Cytokines promote cell division in trees.
Stress
People – People suffer with stress from physical, pathological, and climatic factors.
Trees – Trees also suffer with stress from physical, pathological, and mostly climatic factors.
People – People have defense and recovery strategies to deal with stress. They are frequently misunderstood by other people as well as misunderstanding their actions against trees.
Trees – Trees have defense and recovery strategies in their dealings with stress. They are frequently misunderstood by people who cause undue stress to trees.
People – People who may go to a public event and with other people are happy and are enjoying the event. But when there are too many people in attendance, people become uncomfortable and complain about the lack of personal space.
Trees – While the lateral branches grow toward the other trees, they stop growing just before they reach the other trees. In a sense they are giving other trees their "own space", although the tree's reason is to allow both trees access to sunlight.
People – Stress in people is a specific response by the body to a stimulus that disturbs or interferes with the normal activities. When stressful situations arise, people devote their efforts into doing what they can to build their immunity and change the circumstances so they may take steps to reduce or eliminate the stress.
Trees – Trees are not free of disease or stress but have the capacity to resist the effects of stress. Trees have developed complex biochemical processes that enable them to build their immunity and detect, respond to, and survive the many environmental stresses they encounter during their potentially long lifespans, outdoors and dealing with all types of weather, disease, and pests.
People – When a person is trying to breathe with only a small part of their lungs available, it is hard to do. There is plenty of oxygen around but the person does not have the tools available to absorb it. The person is actually operating with a compromised breathing system.
Trees – When young trees are dug from a nursery, they typically retain only 10-20% of their root system. The rest of the roots are left where the young tree originally grew. Thus, the newly transplanted trees may be operating with a much smaller root system than what they really need. The tree is actually operating with a compromised root system.
People – People make decisions or responses based entirely on the flow of auxin and other chemical signals. Stress in people can alter the molecular wrapping around the chromosomes which, in turn, determines which genes will be silenced and which are expressed. This so-called “epigenetic” effect can persist and sometimes be passed down to offspring.
Trees – Trees make decisions or responses based entirely on the flow of auxin and other chemical signals. Trees suffer with stress from physical, pathological, and mostly climatic factors. Trees have defense and recovery strategies in their dealings with stress. They are frequently misunderstood by people who add undue stress to trees.
The threshold over which essential physiological processes in trees are slowed down or completely inhibited is 86°F (30°C), especially if other stresses like drought are added to this. To lessen the impact, city trees should be heavily mulched to minimize the heating effect of the paved surface and to allow air and water to reach the roots. Only those species and cultivars known to tolerate high temperatures should be selected for installation in heavily paved areas.
Carbon Dioxide Levels
People – Exposure to high carbon dioxide levels can cause humans to suffer with an increase in headaches, double vision, an inability to concentrate, and perhaps have seizures. This will eventually result in the displacement of oxygen with carbon dioxide in the air and cause animal and human suffocation.
Trees – Trees will suffer when levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere rise as a result of global warming. Most trees will thicken their leaves and scientists have shown that this reaction will actually worsen climate change by making the global 'carbon sink' contributed by trees, less productive. In other words, the more carbon dioxide that is in the air, the less carbon dioxide that trees will absorb. But that does not mean we should stop planting trees to fight global warming.
Temperature Response
People – Most people are comfortable in summer and are active when outdoor temperatures are between 65° and 89°F (18° and 32°C). When people get overheated, they begin to sweat. The sweat evaporates from the skin surface and cools the body down. It usually takes a person at least a half-hour to cool down after an overheated episode.
Trees – Maximum growth in most tree species occurs in early summer when temperatures range between 65° – 89°F (18° – 32°C) depending on species, with maximum temperatures for active growth slowing between 77° and 100°F (25° and 38°C). Minimum summer temperatures for growth ranging from 35° to 52°F (2° to 11°C). Trees pump moisture out of their leaves to cool themselves and the forest down.
People – People who experience high temperatures will also seek relief by moving into the shade of a tree, or become submerged in water. However, by working together, people have invented air conditioning to alter the temperature and level of humidity in their buildings.
Trees – In the forest, besides creating shade with their leaves, a group of trees working together sharing food and communications to create an ecosystem that can moderate the weather (heat and cold) and move water to alter the level of humidity and temperature. This creates a micro-climate suitable for tree growth and sustenance. As water is pumped out the leaf stomata, the evaporating moisture cools the forest and brings the temperature down. As water passes through the trees faster than normal, the trees become cooler internally as well as helping to lower the temperature within the forest.
In addition, the warm weather signals trees to work together and release terpenes, which is sap that is evaporated into the atmosphere surrounding the forest, where it acts as a natural form of cloud seeding. Scientists now realize that the resulting clouds that form, help to block sunlight and cool the forest, providing a second way that the forest trees can regulate the temperature. Forest trees can also deal with weather changes year-round.
People – Most people are uncomfortable in winter when temperatures range from 35° to 52°F (2° to 11°C). People can work outdoors in winter at a reduced level of productivity, but will suffer and can be killed in 10 minutes when temperatures drop to the -4° to 23°F (-20° to -5°C) level.
Trees – Root growth will continue in areas with mild winter temperatures. Roots can continue to grow in non-frozen soil, but cold soil temperatures will reduce the rate of growth. Root tissues of woody plants can be killed at soil temperatures of -4° to 23°F (-5° to -20°C).
People – In winter people add coats and layers of clothing to protect their bodies from the cold of winter. People also deal with bad winter weather by seeking shelter and staying inside. People can not individually alter the weather. However, by working together, people have invented heaters to alter the temperature in their buildings. The mobility of people also allows them to relocate to warmer climates during the winter months.
Trees – In cold weather, leaf cell membranes lose their fluid properties and become coated with a thick waxy gel-like anti-freeze called ceutical. Also in cold conditions more unsaturated fatty acids are placed in the cell membranes while in hot conditions more saturated fatty acids are inserted.
In autumn, the declining length of daylight triggers deciduous trees to break down their chlorophyll for storage where it can be brought back in the spring. Each leaf forms an abscission layer which allows the leaf to separate from the stem. This allows the tree to survive winter storms. These trees evolved when the tilt of the earth, millions of years ago, left little sunlight in the polar region and the evergreen trees could not photosynthesize. In the summer months, the broad leaves of deciduous trees allowed the tree to make up for lost growing time. Conifers fill their needles with antifreeze and coat the needle with wax that prevents water from leaving the tree over winter. The thin needles are less likely to be damaged by winter storms.
Looking closely at a cross section of a tree stump, lies the evidence about how trees survive the climate. Each growth ring consists of a wider, light-colored area to the inside of a thin dark area. The light-colored area is growth that occurs during the summer months, when sap flows freely through the tree and growth occurs very quickly. Conversely, the darker-colored section occurs during the winter, as the tree's genetic code sends out signals to build up a layer of dead cells to protect the fresh summer growth. This outer layer of the growth ring works with the cambium layer and bark to protect the tree from the cold of winter. To prepare for the winter months, trees will also pull down the majority of it's sap from the upper reaches of the trees to help keep it from freezing.
Skin
People – Skin is a barrier that protects the internal parts of the human body from diseases and damage in the world and it prevents many diseases from invading and spreading through other people's bodies.
Trees – Trees have skin that functions the same way, except we call it bark. The major differences between bark and skin are the words and not the functions. Bark is a barrier that protects a tree from diseases and damage to the tree. The bark blocks pathogens that could cause harm and spread through the tree in the xylem and phloem systems.
People – The epidermis is the outermost layer of skin. The dermis, beneath the epidermis, contains tough connective tissues called capillaries which distribute oxygenated blood from the arteries to the tissues of the body. The skin originates beneath the dermis layer of skin. It is formed as an inner layer of skin and as new inner layers are made, the outer layers fall off in flakes.
Trees – The outer bark is the outermost layer of bark. The inner layer of bark, called phloem tissue, carries the food produced in the leaves to parts of the tree where it is utilized for growth. Both inner bark (phloem) and wood (xylem) originate in the vascular cambium layer of cells. Bark is toward the outside where the oldest layers may slough off, and wood toward the inside where it accumulates as dead tissue.
People – Skin is smooth and flexible when the person is young and it conforms to the bones and muscles. But wrinkles appear with age and the skin sheds flakes and dried cells that are not noticeable. Although in the scalp it is noticeable, and it is called dandruff.
Trees – The bark is usually smooth and flexible when the tree is young and the bark conforms to the trunk, wood, branches and unions. With age, bark develops deep fissures and plates, a firm surface, and cracks. Bark sheds flakes and dried cells that are not noticeable. Some trees shed large amounts of bark cells every year while smooth barked trees like canoe birch (Betula papyrifera), shed thin layers of the outer-most layer of bark.
People – Skin is a barrier that protects people's inner tissues and functions from diseases and damage to the body. In addition, skin blocks pathogens that would cause harm and spread through the circulatory system. The skin will sometimes develop diseases such as acne or attract insects such as mosquitoes which may transmit diseases.
Trees – Bark is a barrier that protects the tree's inner functions from pests and diseases. However, the bark will sometimes attract insect pests and diseases such as a fungus that will cause problems such as Black Rot caused by the fungus Diplodia seriata that kills fruit trees or an insect, like Agrilus anxius, bronze birch borer, that kills birch trees.
People – Skin is harmed by an excess amount of sunlight making it become sunburned. Generally, people wear clothes or apply sunscreen lotion to protect the person's skin. Skin that is exposed to moderate sunlight becomes “tanned”. Some people invest heavily in body lotions to protect skin, which trees cannot do. However, people do wear clothes and seek the shade of a tree to protect their skin from excessive sun rays.
Trees – Bark is sometimes harmed by an excess amount of sunlight although generally, the tree's leaves can move around to protect the tree's bark. Trees protect themselves from excess sunlight by adjusting the angle of their leaves to block the sun from overheating the bark as well as to maximize photosynthesis production.
People – Skin also holds in bodily fluids while it releases and absorbs gas and moisture through pores and sweat glands. The skin also performs micro breathing. Without skin the human body would dry out and die.
Trees – Bark protects the flow of life supporting fluids while it releases and absorbs gas and moisture. The bark also performs micro breathing. Without bark, the tree would dry out and die.
People – When people shed their clothes, they are naked.
Trees – When deciduous trees shed their leaves, they are naked or dormant.
People – Skin controls the limits of the average adult human body which is about 65% water.
Trees – Bark controls the limits of an average tree which is about 75% water.
People – As skin ages, it becomes thick, less flexible, and develops folds and wrinkles while generating new skin cells to replace dying cells that are shedding off.
Trees – As bark ages, it becomes thicker and develops wrinkles or ridges, while generating new cells to replace dying cells that are becoming wood within the inner bark. The outer bark peels and dries out, shedding the outer bark cells.
People – Skin is sensitive to contact which is either pleasant and makes the person desire more, or it is painful which generates a defensive response. If the skin is cut, the person feels pain.
Trees – Bark may appear hard and strong, but it is also sensitive to contact which is harmless or it might generate a defensive response and if the bark is torn the tree feels pain.
People – Skin may be shed in small amounts during bathing and normal rubbing from clothing. Skin is most often shed because of normal human growth. It might also be the result of disease or injuries such as blisters or sunburn when the person spent too much time in the sun without protection.
Trees – Bark may be shed by normal rubbing of the branches, the normal shedding process, and weather changes. Bark is most often shed because of normal annual tree growth in diameter. Shedding bark can also be a symptom of a disease or sunburn caused by the loss of something that had provided shade to where the damaged bark occurred.
People – People grow without breaking their skin, old skin becomes wrinkled. A cut on the skin is very uncomfortable.
Trees – Trees grow by expanding their diameter without breaking the bark. When the tree is older the breaks on the older bark, which is at the surface, may crack, but it does not seem to harm the tree. A break or cut to the inner bark is as uncomfortable for the tree as a break or cut on the skin is for people.
People – The lines on a fingerprint are never duplicated from finger to finger, even between twins.
Trees – The rings on a cross-section from a tree stump are never duplicated even among trees growing from the same parent, or are side by side.
People – People have growth rings just like trees. The rings are found in a cross-section of teeth. As baby teeth grow in layers, their rate varies which changes the width of the growth ring. Dentists will slice the tooth in half to examine a baby tooth to verify the child's growth rate and to detect any environmental or health concerns. The tooth can only be examined when the child has grown permanent teeth and forced the baby teeth out of its mouth.
Trees – Trees have growth rings that are found on a cross-section of a limb or the tree's trunk. Every year a new ring is formed over the old ring. The width of the cross-section ring will allow arborists and dendrologists determine the tree's growth rate, age and any environmental or health concerns. The growth rings can be examined with a core sample or more often by looking at the rings on the stump when the tree has been cut down.
People & Trees – Just for fun, look at how much the lines from a fingerprint look like the cross-section rings from a tree stump.
People & Trees – People like to hug trees. The proper way to hug a tree is to press your cheek against the trunk and feel the warmth and currents flowing from the tree into yourself. It starts in your toes and runs up your legs and through your body into your brain. It is also good to close your eyes while hugging the tree. You get such a good relaxing feeling and realize that you are ready for a new day and new challenges. You can do it daily. Do not rush a tree hug. Holding a tree in your arms for five minutes a day should be enough. Trees give out the most energy during the summer. Be careful not to just hug for a moment. Take hold of the tree and wait until you begin to feel the quiet warmth starting to flow out of the tree and into you.
Maintenance
People – People have bones that are connected together to become a skeleton that gives the body its shape.
Trees – A tree's skeleton is its trunk and branches. They are all connected together to give the tree its shape.
People – People have joints called elbows and knees that are larger in diameter than the bones above and below the joint.
Trees – Trees have joints called crotches that are larger in diameter than the wood above and below the joint.
People – People have a crotch where the body splits into two legs. However, the split appears as an up-side-down “Y” shape.
Trees – Trees have a crotch where a single trunk splits into two limbs. The split appears as a “Y” shape.
People – People have muscles that allow bones to bend at joints and provide movement to the body. Bones and muscles push against gravitational forces allowing the person to grow straight and vertical.
Trees – Branch and trunk growth can control and correct the posture of the tree by applying forces to cells in the bark and growth tissues within the trunk. This effort pushes against the gravitational forces to make the tree to grow straight and vertical.
People – During heavy winds, people turn sideways against a prevailing wind. People will seek shelter during very heavy windstorms.
Trees – During heavy winds, branches bend and sway back and forth and sideways to lessen the impact of the wind. Trees cannot move out of the wind, but will shed a co-dominant stem and/or leaves during very heavy windstorms. Trees also develop a longer cross section of trunk growth, parallel to the wind, to provide extra strength in prevailing strong winds.
People – Education will develop the mind of a child toward becoming a productive and sustainable adult. Adding braces to the teeth of young children, will guide the growing teeth into proper locations which results in sustainable dental care. Monitoring a child's weight during growth, will minimize an under- or over-weight adult. Glasses will correct eyesight problems. All the corrections are optional. Failure to correct these problems in youth results in weakness as the person grows older.
Trees – Structural pruning results in proper spacing between limbs as the tree grows larger. Pruning small branches is best done on young trees to develop good branch architecture which results in sustainable trees with minimal chance of failure. All the pruning corrections are optional. Failure of proper pruning results in weakness as the tree grows older.
Injury
People – People feel pain and need acetylsalicylic acid (aspirin) to relieve the pain. If people do not feel pain, then they ignore the danger and may not survive. (Acetylsalicylic acid comes from the bark of the willow tree Salix.)
Trees – When trees are injured or stressed, they feel the pain and produce the chemical ethylene that works the same as aspirin on people and the chemical ethylene relieves the pain. The time it takes trees to signal or respond to stimuli is much slower (1/3 inch of travel time per second) than a person's millisecond travel time response. So, it might take a tree an hour before defensive compounds can reach the injury and spoil the pest's meal. If the tree cannot repair the injury, the tree might not survive.
People – When children have wounds, they heal more quickly than adults and small wounds heal more quickly than large wounds.
Trees – Wounds on saplings heal more quickly than the same wound on a mature tree. Small wounds heal more quickly than large wounds, so it is better if trees are given their structural pruning when they are young and within 2 or 3 years after transplanting to their final location to avoid the removal of large limbs that are slower to heal.
People – When a person has a festering wound like scabies that take a long time to heal, they leave behind a rough skin. Sometimes fungi and bacteria get into the skin and severely weaken the person.
Trees – When tree bark is attacked with a pest such as woolly scale, it can completely envelop the tree truck with their waxy silvery wool that leaves behind a rough and scabby bark. Sometimes fungi and bacteria get into the tree and severely weaken the tree so much that it dies.
People – When skin is cut or scraped, a person begins bleeding. This is because blood vessels in the area are damaged. Bleeding serves a useful purpose because it helps to clean out a wound before forming a crust or serosanguineous (scab) of dried blood. The scab is formed to quickly cover and protect the skin below the wound. The scab is a layer of protective cells and tissues that become the body's attempt to cover a wound with a temporary barrier. The scab stays in place until the wounded skin has been completely replaced and the scab then falls off. It is a natural part of healing. Bleeding can weaken a person, but will not necessarily permanently harm the person. Usually they will heal and survive and the blood is replenished by the stem cells in the bone marrow.
Trees – When tree bark is cut, wounded by insect infestation, disease, pruning cuts or broken branches, the cells surrounding the injury will chemically and physically change themselves to prevent the spread of decay. The tree does not actually heal. Instead, new wood tissue begins growing to cover the wound. This is the copious production and exudation of gum by a diseased or damaged tree. Gummosis serves a useful purpose because it helps to close the wound prior to the start of CODIT and the tree begins gummosis to "wall off" or compartmentalization (CODIT) the injured portion of the branch or trunk to prevent disease or pests from spreading into healthy tissue and vascular cambium. Gummosis can weaken a tree, but oozing of sap from a tree, although not normal, will not necessarily permanently harm a tree and usually most of them will survive.
Various metabolites may also detect early stages of stress before the appearance of symptoms such as reductions in woody growth, crown deterioration, or tree death. By resisting the spread of decay, damage, and infections, the boundaries protect and preserve the water, air, and mechanical support systems of the tree. Meanwhile new wood tissue begins growing to cover the wound. When the wound is completely sealed, the covering tissue has become bark cells on the surface and wood cells underneath.
People – If the wound is from surgery, the doctor will provide breathable bandages to control the bleeding and encourage fast healing. Bandages that seal over the wound trap harmful bacteria in the wound and are not recommended.
Trees – If the wound is caused by pruning, the arborist will try to make the cut as small as possible and prune when sap flow is expected to be slow to encourage fast healing, but allow exposure to the air. Painting over a wound is not recommended because it can seal harmful bacteria and disease in the tree.
People – People have muscles and bones that are used to support potential weaknesses.
Trees – Trees have wood that is used to support potential weaknesses.
People – If people have a surface wound, they heal inward from the edge of the wound.
Trees – If trees have a surface wound, they also heal inward from the edge of the wound.
People – People have fractures called broken bones. When the bone is reset and immobilized in its proper position it will heal as the bone knits back together.
Trees – Trees have branches that can be broken. A broken branch can be immobilized and it will heal at the surface, with support, or if the broken branch is removed, the tree will compartmentalize the wood tissues around the edge of the cut and CODIT begins the “healing” to seal off the wound from harmful bacteria.
People – If people have a major wound, the same efforts apply as indicated above, only at a larger scale.
Trees – Trees can alter wood that forms around the margin of wounds and trees also have the ability to alter cell forms in response to a lean in the stem that could lead to a fracture. As trees sway, new tissues form in new positions that constantly adjust to potential weaknesses. When a radial crack does rupture the cambium, then wound wood formation starts and this adds strength to that portion of the trunk.
People – People are different in their individual healing schemes due to their individual health and cellular structure.
Trees – Trees are different in their individual healing schemes due to their individual health and cellular structure.
People – A person's medical history can be observed by looking at scars from wounds.
Trees – The healing process leaves visible evidence of the previous wound scars.
People – When people get ill, they may get pale and lethargic. This will get the attention of doctors who may have a cure for the illness or a treatment to fight the cause of the harm.
Trees – Trees change leaf colors when they get ill. This will get the attention of arborists who may have a cure for an illness or pest that is causing harm. Especially arborists who hope to have cures for any disease or pest that harms a tree.
People – People have an internal clock, called circadian rhythm which is a natural, internal process that regulates the sleep-wake cycle and repeats roughly every 24 hours. It is most noticeable when waking up in the morning without an alarm clock and sense hunger before mealtime. Or when they sense cooling weather is a sign of the coming winter.
Trees – Trees also have circadian rhythm that tells them when to open flowers for when their favorite insects are most ready to pollinate them. Or when to begin to activate the abscission layer to drop their leaves in autumn and when to open their buds for new leaves in spring. Circadian rhythm also tells a tree whether it is day or night.
People and Trees – There are a few pests that present problems to both people and trees. The oak processionary moth is a problem to people because the caterpillars are covered with fine stinging hairs that break off when you touch them and make their way under the human skin where they release substances that itch and cause welts and sometimes even start an acute allergic reaction. Trees do not like this pest because the caterpillars love to eat oak tree leaves and hide from predators using thick webs on the trunk bark where they retreat to molt as they grow.
Health Care
People – Human health care is an enormous social and economic issue. Extensive research is being conduced to improve health care with the best medications, operations, and therapies. Much of the research is being conducted by a federal government, drug manufacturers, and research hospitals.
Trees – The care that is necessary to keep a tree healthy is an enormous social and economic issue. Tree care researchers are looking for cures to control pests and diseases with trunk injections, whole tree spraying and pruning techniques, depending on the problem and the best solution. Much of the research is being conducted by a federal government, the drug manufacturers and research colleges.
People and Trees – People have gone to trees to search for a cure of an illness because trees sometimes contain a product that cures a problem that a person might have. For example, some people develop cancer in parts of their body. The yew tree (Taxus) provides Taxoil that cures certain cancers. Another potential drug that can kill cancer cells has recently been discovered in the bark of willow (Salix) trees, sparking hope for a new treatment of childhood cancers. It comes more than a century after an aspirin active ingredient was discovered in the willow bark. Scientists working with cancer biologists have discovered the chemical, miyabeacin, which has been found to kill various cancer cells, including those resistant to other drugs, is also found in willow bark. The researchers are particularly excited about miyabeacin’s success against neuroblastoma, a hard to treat and common childhood cancer where the overall survival rate is below 50 per cent.
Malaria is a potentially deadly disease to people. Quineine from the Cinchona tree (Cinchoneae) is the world’s best anti-malarial drug. Alder (Alnus) bark contains salicin, the same anti-inflammatory and fever-reducing compound in willow (Salix) bark. Willow bark is also used externally to treat wounds. The leaves of beech (Fagus) trees are antibacterial and they were used by Native Americans for treating tuberculosis and are also used as a poultice (a soft, warm moist mass, spread on cloth and placed over the skin) for burns.
Maple (Acer) and brich (Betula) both produce sap that may be used directly from the tree for its medicinal properties and potential cures, as well as being boiled for a sweet syrup. Slippery elm tree (Ulmus rubra) is soothing and contains mucilage that can help mucous membrane issues and is most commonly used to soothe the digestive tract and sensitive stomachs. Hawthorn (Crataegus sp.) berries and flowers have cardiac benefits, and it’s been used to strengthen the heart and lower blood pressure. Hazelnuts (Corylus) are full of healthy fats and science is showing that they are useful in maintaining healthy heart functions. Oak (Quercus) bark and leaves can help disinfect wounds, and the tannins strengthen blood vessels. It’s commonly used as a gargle for bleeding gums.
Aging
People – As people become older, their hair decreases in thickness, color, and vigor.
Trees – As a tree ages, it becomes slower growing, the leaves lose their dark color, and gradually stop growing. When the branches fall off, they are not replaced.
People – The aging process and poor health or other environmental issues results in more frequent illness and declining organ vitality, along with a slower response time to resume normal functions.
Trees – The aging process and droughts or other environmental issues result in more frequent disease and pest attacks along with a slower response time to heal and resume normal functions.
People – As people get older they slow down in their actions and workloads and they develop an increase in width around their middle, while various body parts begin to fail. This usually corresponds to a person's retirement from active work.
Trees – Trees redirect their growth to lower branches making the middle of the tree wider. The tree will also lose vigor, drop limbs and decline in active growth.
Very Old People – People in their nineties often lose body mass, and as they begin losing their body mass, they cannot eat enough to replace it.
Ancient Trees – The twigs on many branches of a very old tree begin to die off leaving only the main trunks and largest limbs, because the trees have no energy to replace the twigs.
People – As people age, the communication links begin to dwindle in number and length of conversation.
Trees – As trees get older, they may not grow as fast as a young tree, but the roots do keep growing and transmitting messages, even after the death of the tree above ground.
Energy Production
People – People are good at solving their problems. To obtain energy, people are able to eat plants and drink water that provide an abundance of food and energy.
Trees – Trees are amazingly good in solving their problems. To solve their energy needs, trees are able to grow through shady areas to find sunlight and most turn their leaves toward the sun during the day to capture the best angle to maximize their photosynthetic production and create an abundance of food and energy. Their roots grow toward moist areas to find water.
People – People use communication and their mobility to solve all their life survival needs. People are creative and have developed speaking, reading, and listening devices to communicate. People can also communicate by scent with the use of deodorants and perfumes. Even with deodorants to mask a bad odor, people have an aroma from their pheromones produced as sweat and that other people can smell and detect both consciously and subconsciously. The pheromones in sweat are a decisive factor when we choose a partner with whom we wish to procreate.
Trees – Even though they have no mobility, most trees use scent for communication with neighboring trees to protect themselves from pests and at the same time to produce sugars for themselves and make surplus food available for other trees in need. Trees also use color, trickery, and scents to lure in insects, birds, animals and the wind, to spread their pollen and seeds. New research finds that some trees can distinguish between different pollinators and only generate their pollen for their best pollinator. The Catalpa tree flower provides lower lip that is designed for bumble bees to use as a landing pad to get into their flower. The Catalpa flower also has two rows of red dots leading to the nectar so the bee knows where to go. While on the way to the nectar the bee walks under the anthers on a male flower where pollen is brushed into the hairs on the back of the bee. When the bee flies off to a female flower the pollen is transferred onto the sticky stigma and a seed begins to develop.
People – People have a large arsenal to ward off predators and ensure survival of themselves and their offspring. People use doctors who are skilled and know the right medicine for a problem.
Trees – When a tree’s leaves are infected or chewed by insects the tree emits a volatile chemical called a pheromone that signals other leaves and trees to mount a defense. Sometimes this warning signal contains information about the identity of the insect, gleaned from the tree's leaf taste of the pest's saliva chewing on the leaves. Sometimes the defense might involve altering the leaf’s flavor or texture, or producing toxic pheromones, pest specific scents, or other compounds that render the tree’s leaves less digestible to herbivores. Since the tree is able to identify a pest they must have a sense of taste.
When trees are broken down to a fine powder at a pulp mill, the cellulose molecule extracted from pulp is the same cellulose found in the plant cell walls of fruits and vegetables. It is one of the most common food additives and has been FDA-approved since the mid-1900s.
When used in food, tree cellulose is refined to become as pure as possible. People's bodies process high purity, food-grade cellulose like any other insoluble fiber. We do not absorb or digest it, rather it passes through our body.
Intelligence
Intelligent Behavior
People – Intelligence has led people to extract fossil fuels, destroy trees, plunder civilizations and kill off
other lifeforms because of greed and superiority.
Trees – Their main focus is to survive and make their environment and the entire globe more suitable for survival of their seedlings. (Perhaps trees are more intelligent than humans.)
People – Humans have intelligence as expressed in the ability to understand, adapt, and interact with other people as well as caring for the environment in an intelligent manner.
Trees – Trees are also capable of intelligent behavior, in the same way that bees and ants have intelligence. Once bees locate a source of nectar in a tree's flower, they can communicate that location to other bees in the hive by passing out samples of nectar and doing a “dance” that tells the other bees the tree's location. Trees recognize that flower color and fragrance attract bees who pollinate the tree's flowers and this response results in continuing the species. What mankind calls a response, is really a tree using its intelligence.
People – Humans also have an intelligent behavior that is the autonomic nervous system governing our breathing, heart beat, and digestive processes for example, which operate most of the time without instructions from the brain.
Trees – The ability to adapt and interact with the environment is a definition of intelligence and by this definition, trees are intelligent. Trees also have autonomic functions that occur automatically by the way water flows up the tree from the roots to the leaves. Trees use sunlight to mix with water and nutrients gathered by the roots, and pushed to the leaves for the manufacture of the food called sugar.
Sensors
People – People have a brain and use it for learning and memory and to communicate with other humans using their voice, touch, writing, and at the present time, by electronics. Human communication is obvious to other humans but communication between people and trees and vice versa, is not yet fully understood. People are able to communicate with animals, but animals have very limited ability to communicate to humans (although many dog and cat owners might disagree).
Trees – Brains are considered a whole function as the centralized command centers for most creatures in the animal kingdom. In the plant kingdom the tree's root tips seem to be the center of a tree's function. There does not appear to be any command post; but rather, there is a leaderless network, that works together to solve problems and gather the materials needed to produce food for growth and survival.
People – Intelligence is the ability to solve problems, remember things, and it is obvious that a person is intelligent and has a brain. People can use the 86 billion neurons in the human brain to solve problems and survive. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate have been found in humans. Having a single brain and a single heart and a single pair of lungs make humans feel superior in intelligence and survivability.
In addition, people have sensor on the surface layer of skin. These sensors allow people to react to the sense of feeling and the sense of touching, temperature, etc. While a tree root will react to a rock in the way of further movement, a person will react the same way by responding to touching something very hot.
Trees – Trees do not have a single, large brain but reactions within signaling pathways provide a biochemical basis for learning and memory. Trees are currently assumed to have a mini-brain or sensor at the tip of each root. The combination of millions of root tips can add up to the equivalent of a very large brain. Trees are capable of discriminating positive and negative experiences and of 'learning' (registering memories) from their past experiences. Trees use this information to update their behavior in order to survive the present and future challenges to their environment.
A tree's memory can be tested most visibly by-passing drops of water over a mimosa leaf. At first the leaf recoils, but as the tree learns that the water drops are not harmful, it stops recoiling. The mimosa will remember the harmless water drops long into the future, but still recoil to the touch of a human finger or an insect.
The latest research indicates that an area of excitable cells is in the root tip or in the region of elongation, just behind the root tip that acts like a tiny brain. The sensors in the root tip enable the growing root to change direction to go around an obstacle or to find water and nutrients. In some cases, the root tip will alter course before it hits an underground obstacle, showing that trees are capable of “sensing or seeing” an obstacle in the soil. Researchers have predicted there may be something like a “brain” in root tips or region of elongation that has yet to be discovered.
One root tip may not be able to do much, but most trees have millions of individual roots and rootlets, each with a single root tip. Instead of a single large brain like people, trees may have millions of small brains or sensors that work together in a complex, leaderless network. The proof of this observation is that a tree can survive and continue growing even after losing 95% or more of its roots during transplanting.
Trees have no single sensor, not because they lack intelligence, but because they would be vulnerable to an easy death and not be able to survive on this planet for millions of years more than humans have. The destruction of one leaf or one root, does not mean the death of the entire tree or even cause a visible impact on the tree. (The destruction of one human heart or brain means the death to the entire person.)
Signals given off from the radical or root tip are the same signals as those from neurons in the human brain. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate have been found in trees and people. Scientists have observed that roots search for the best location to take in water, avoid competition, and absorb essential nutrients.
Researchers have also discovered that tree roots can pass messages from one tree to the next. Symbiotic relationships established by fungi that live in the soil along tree roots have the job of keeping trees alive and sending messages from one tree to another. Instead of words, trees use chemical, hormonal, slow pulsing and electronic signals to communicate with other trees.
Senses
People – Humans have five senses--taste, smell, sight, touch, and sound or hearing. They use these senses to function and survive. Like trees, people respond to the same environmental variables plus life processes and distribution of organisms in the context of the environment.
Trees – Trees have at least 20 different senses used to monitor complex conditions in their environment. They have senses that can do such things as measure humidity, detect gravity and sense electromagnetic fields. Trees smell and taste chemicals in the air or on their leaves and branches. They react differently to various wavelengths of light as well as to shadow. The sound of caterpillars chewing leaves will prime a tree to produce defense chemicals while the sound of flowing water produces a positive response. Recent research as proven that trees can also react to other sounds.
Response to Sound
People – With their ears, people can hear sounds which are actually the transmission and interpretation of vibrations that pass through the air.
Trees – Within three minutes of sensing vibrations from a pollinators’ wings, trees can temporarily increase the concentration of sugar by as much as 20 percent in their flowers’ nectar. A sweeter treat for pollinators draws in more insects, thus increasing the chances of successful pollination. In effect, the flowers themselves are serving as ears, picking up the specific frequencies of insect wings while tuning out irrelevant sounds like wind. Although flowers vary widely in shape and size, a good many are somewhat concave shaped which makes them perfect for receiving and amplifying sound waves, much like the human ear or a megaphone.
Thigmomorphogenesis
People – Continuous massage will alter bone growth in a child. For example, a child that has one leg shorter than the other can undergo massage therapy treatments to equalize the growth rate. It is irreversible.
Trees – The regular rubbing or bending of stems by wind or continuously passing animals, inhibits elongation and stimulates their radial expansion, resulting in shorter, stockier trees. Researchers discovered that a constant wind on a growing tree will result in the trunk developing an oval cross-section to provide extra strength to the tree as it struggles to remain growing upward. It is irreversible.
Communication
People – A person's message can be transmitted instantly by voice, writing, actions, eye contact, and by electronic means. The speed of transmission is the biggest difference.
Trees – A tree's message can be transmitted by chemical, hormonal, pheromone, and slow pulsing impulses. An electrical impulse pass through the tree's tissues at the rate of 1/3 inch (8 mm) per second.
People – People, especially women have maternal instincts that are physical and emotional bonds between a mother and a child. There is a gravitational pull from a mother to her child. People also have feelings for one another and they protect the people, especially children, around them. People like the feeling of being warm, cuddled and having a foot massage.
Trees – Trees also have a maternal instinct as they try to choose to where their seeds may fall to the ground, in the forest. The mother tree is surrounded by her children whom she protects from the time the seeds germinate until they are all growing closely, around her. Trees also have feelings and enjoy the feeling of fungi on their roots.
People – People can detect odors through their nose.
Trees – Trees can detect odors through their leaf stomata.
People – A neuron or nerve cell, is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. A single neuron may be connected to many other neurons and the total number of neurons and connections in a network may be extensive. Movement such as slapping a mosquito on the arm is the response to a bug bite.
Trees – Researchers of tree communications have gathered environmental information and determined that it is processed, integrated, and shared to enable adaptive and coordinated responses to pest attacks. Communication is observed in a tree within and between cells, between trees of the same or related species, and between trees and non-plant organisms including fungi and microorganisms, especially in the root zone.
Trees do not have a brain but do have a neuronal network of sensors in each and every root hair. A neuron is a grayish or reddish granular cell that is the fundamental functional unit of nervous tissue transmitting and receiving nerve impulses and having cytoplasmic processes which are highly differentiated frequently as multiple dendrites or usually as solitary axons which conduct impulses to and away from the cell body. A biological neural network is composed of groups of chemically connected or functionally associated neurons. Reactions within signaling pathways provide a biochemical basis for learning and memory. This means there is communication among trees and it is being called the “wood wide web”. It is the connections of soil fungi and mycorrhizae that connect vegetation in an intimate network that allows the sharing of an enormous amount of information and goods, all of which can spread twice the distance of a branch in the crown. This information is sent by electrical impulses through the root/fungal systems as well as by chemical compounds and hormonal signals to determine which trees need more nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon, and which trees have extra to share.
Can trees really “talk” to each other? Of course not, but they do communicate among themselves by linking their roots together and using the mycorrhizal network in the soil. But mankind has not yet learned their language. Are trees thinking or are they adapting and reacting to their environment? Arborists should be reading the signals from trees and trying to understand what the tree is communicating to us.
Recent research has shown that most of the microorganism/tree communication processes are neuron-like. Trees communicate via electrical impulses and when one tree is exposed to plant eating behavior, it sends out a warning to neighboring trees. The trees can also produce other soil microbes to attract parasites which attack the plant eating pests. Trees can also produce chemicals that alter the taste of their leaves which discourage pests from eating their leaves.
Researchers are also aware of instances of tree communication through the air, in which chemical pheromones emitted by the leaves of a damaged tree can be picked up by the leaves of a neighboring tree. Trees are capable of refined recognition of self and non-self and are territorial in behavior. Trees can also activate sensory responses and behavioral events that are 'remembered' in order to prevent future activities upon the basis of past experiences. Although it is not a tree, the commonly known Venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula) is a carnivorous plant that has these same characteristics.
One researcher has discovered that trees are able to pass their legacy on to their seedlings. Trees are as sophisticated in behavior as animals but this sophistication is masked by the time it takes trees to respond to stimuli, which is much slower (1/3 inch per second) than a person's instant response time. Messages are transmitted through a “fiber-optic” type network (traveling at 10,000 megabits per second) scientists are now calling the “wood-wide-web”. (A computer processes one million megabits per second.) A tree's stomata can produce and receive odors. So trees have a sense of smell and taste and can relay information to other trees about animals eating a tree's leaves or insects causing a disease. Trees will communicate with other trees if they are being attacked, so the neighboring trees can establish defenses before they are attacked. The defenses can be as simple as leaving a bad taste in their leaves to discourage leaf eating animals.
What mankind calls a response, is really a tree using its intelligence. However, other scientists say that when trees respond to stimuli in an automatic way by secreting hormones that affect their growth etc. it has nothing to do with intelligence.
Learning
People – People learn from experiences and use this memory based on its experience to deal with future events. People also have the ability to learn from other people through communication.
Trees – Trees communicate with other trees by transmitting messages through their root connections and through mycorrhizal connections in the soil. This is most noticeable when a tree is being attacked by a pest and the trees all around the infested tree have been notified to send out defenses or toxins against the pest.
A tree 'knows' what it needs to be healthy and acts accordingly, so there is a 'tree intelligence'. Trees know when to bloom so they will be properly pollinated by their preferred pollinator. They know what to do to prevent a pest attack from causing death if they are familiar with the pest.
In late spring, after trees have gotten used to having an ample supply of water, they do not stop demanding
water until the tension in the drying wood becomes too much and the bark splits open, which pains the tree. The following year, the tree has learned a lesson and the tree assumes a more conservative approach and keeps water consumption at a reduced level, despite there being an abundance of soil water available. In other situations, where water is limited all the time, the trees are growing slower, but they are thriving because there are no bark splits to deal with and they have learned how to conserve what water they do have.
Another example of how trees use their memory or learning occurs when a tree has been removed from the forest, for any reason. The remaining trees will try to grow fast to take advantage of the additional sunlight coming into the forest. These same remaining trees will also have to deal with insufficient roots to provide stability when the winds blow. This unexpected movement causes micro-tears along the trunk. A considerable amount of energy is required to make the repairs and thicken the trunk, and this takes energy away from the goal of being the first tree to fill in the hole in the canopy created by the lost tree. All of these efforts point to the fact that trees can learn.
Counting
People – People obviously know how to count and do mathematical calculations.
Trees – Trees also know how to count. For example, during a winter thaw, the trees do not open up their buds to start spring growth. Instead they count the number of days after the first warm spring day and they begin spring growth based on the same number of days from first warmth to bud break as the last spring. Growing new leaves is based on the number of warm days, the temperature, and how long the days are.
Stress
People – Stress in people can alter the molecular wrapping around the chromosomes which, in turn, determines which genes will be silenced and which genes will be expressed. This so-called “epigenetic” effect can persist and sometimes be passed down to a person's offspring. People who live in the city suffer more stress than people living among trees.
Trees – Trees suffer with stress from physical, pathological, and mostly climatic factors. Urban trees suffer more than trees in the forest. Trees have defense and recovery strategies in their dealings with stress. They are frequently misunderstood by people who cause undue stress and harm to trees.
Dependence
People – People depend on trees and plants for the production of oxygen necessary for human survival and providing some calming of the world's climate. People also utilize a tree's wood for fuel and shelter. Some experts say that providing rights to trees and plants is a way to prevent our extinction. People inherit the infrastructure of past communities.
Trees – Trees drive many of the biophysical forces that make the Earth habitable for humans. Trees need mankind and animals for their production of carbon dioxide which is a raw material used by trees as part of the tree's manufacture of oxygen and sugar during photosynthesis. Trees survive despite mankind's actions of burning fossil fuels, deforestation, habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, rapid increases in carbon dioxide levels, etc. Trees and plants drive many of the biophysical forces that make the Earth habitable for humans. Trees inherit the infrastructure of past forests.
Superiority
People – People feel superior to all other living creatures on the planet. They are the most intelligent and have the most strength of any other plant or animal. They have the ability to kill whatever stands in the way to their superiority.
Trees – Trees feel superior to all other living plants, especially those growing in the forest. They use their intelligence to absorb 97% of all sunlight in the forest. The remaining 3% of the sunlight will be wasted or used by small groundcover plants.
Smell
People – All creatures can communicate with odor. People have noses with which they can smell good and bad odors. In people, odor molecules are recognized by receptors on the outside of cells in the nose and immediately trigger a signaling pathway to recognize the odor and respond to it. When people smell something nice, they are attracted to it, but when it smells bad, they stay away. People especially like the smell of flowers on trees as well as the smell of wood and bark.
Trees – All trees can communicate with odor. Trees have odor detection systems in their leaf stoma and can detect different fragrances and odors. Trees have a class of odor molecules known as volatile organic compounds, which are essential for many tree survival strategies including dealing with pests. With an ability to smell using these compounds, trees can identify a pest by the smell of saliva left on a partially eaten leaf. If a pest is harming the tree and the tree is familiar with the pest, it will produce toxins to make the leaves smell bad or have a bitter taste or kill the pest. The odor molecules can also move into cells and accumulate as necessary to attract birds that will eat the pests. These compounds also give essential oils their distinctive scents and all trees know that the sweet smelling perfume in a flower will attract bees and other insects to pollinate their flowers and ensure the tree's survival for many generations to come, and this is good communication.
Pheromones
People – People produce pheromones that are airborne chemical messengers released from the body through sweat and urine that have a physical or emotional effect on other people.
Trees – Trees have can identify a pest by a pheromone message left by the pest and will produce toxins to make the leaves have a bitter taste or kill the pest. When leaves are being eaten by pests, the tree also gives off a pheromone message that warns other trees in the forest of the danger. These other trees pump toxins into their leaves to discourage the pests from coming to their tree. If the pest is an introduction from somewhere beyond where the tree and the pest grew up, it is not likely the tree will have a defense. For example, the Dutch elm disease was able to kill many American elms.
Screaming
People – People scream when they are confronted by a problem they feel will cause them harm. When people scream, wind from the diaphragm flows over vocal cords.
Trees – When trees are really thirsty, they also “scream” when they feel this problem may cause them harm. However, the scream is taking place at ultra-sonic levels which scientists have detected, but human ears have not heard. The trees' scream occurs when air bubbles have replaced the flow of water in the tree trunk and the tree screams its need for water to stay alive and healthy.
Survival
People – People communicate with other people to obtain comfort, food, and shelter as needed during the process of living. When people die, all parts of the body cease to function.
Trees – Tree roots often continue to live after a tree dies or is cut down because the roots are connected to other living trees and the sugars from the live trees are shared with all the trees connected to the underground wood-wide web network. There are many examples discovered by scientists that tree roots have transferred carbon and carbon products from living trees through living tree stumps, which continue the transfer of products to other living trees in need. They give each other space to grow and do not block the sunlight to the neighboring trees. They cooperate with other trees in the forest to moderate the weather. For example, in China, a 1,500-year-old Ginkgo was struck by lightning in 1976, causing a fire which burned the tree down to the stump. It had no sign of life for decades, but during the spring of 2001 it miraculously came to life again and grew leaves from the remaining stump. Today the tree is still alive and growing very well.
Shelter
People – People's home provides them shelter and is likely to be damaged less within the wind buffered congestion of a city than in a single home all by itself on an open lot. Houses can be built on the leeward side of a hill or a forest to minimize damage from consistent severe winds. Houses built in areas of high winds are better built with concrete and steel.
Trees – An individual tree that is subjected to high winds on the whole tree is more likely to be damaged than trees in a forest where all the trees act as a unit and if any problem occurs it is just the treetops or individual limbs that might be damaged while most of the trees remain intact. Trees also have certain weak branches that are attached with co-dominant crotches so when there is a severe windstorm, one of the two branches break away to reduce wind resistance and prevent damage to the entire tree.
People – People have learned that if they are outside in the wind that if they stand sideways against the wind there is less pressure to blow them over.
Trees – Trees are also able to brace themselves against constant winds. Researchers have discovered that trees will grow thinner sides parallel to the direction of constant winds which makes them narrower and less resistant to the wind in the direction of the constant prevailing winds. They are also thicker on the side of the prevailing wind which provides extra strength to stand up against the wind.
Singular Life
People – People who live alone are not as healthy nor live as long as those who live and communicate within a community. People need people to be happy and help others in need. In addition, people with no access to nature and trees, are not as healthy as people living with trees all around them.
Trees – Trees that are growing in cities have roots that may have been damaged when the tree was dug. Trees that were installed in proximity to city sidewalks are surrounded by soil that is so compact that roots cannot penetrate it. These isolated trees are subject to pests and diseases without the warning and the communication that the trees in the forest provide each other. The urban compact soil also hinders rapid and healthy tree growth. These situations prevent trees from being happy and developing a communication network with other trees. Trees growing in the forest are happy and healthy because they are part of the forest community and the communication network making them likely to live twice as long.
People – When people get sick there are hospitals in the community where other people help the sick person get well with support and nourishment to help with the recovery.
Trees – Trees will naturally form a community within the forest and every tree is considered valuable. When one tree gets sick all the other trees provide support and nourishment to help with the recovery.
Biological Clock
People – People have a biological clock system in the body that controls when a person needs to sleep, eat, wake-up without an alarm clock, etc. Biological clocks are found in nearly every tissue and organ of every living being on the planet.
Trees – A tree's biological clock is coupled with the ability to perceive light. This allows trees to measure the time of the day and also the season of the year. This is how trees know when to flower, change leaf color in autumn, or drop their leaves before winter begins. The seeds of many trees sprout only after they are exposed to enough light to alert the seed that it is springtime. Trees are also able to sense the quality of light and respond appropriately. The tree has light sensors in their leaves, in the bark, in their buds, and in their seeds. The sensors can trigger growth of new leaves or flowers, or trigger dormancy at the end of the season.
Trees also use a combination of temperatures and day length to determine the season. Longer days and warming temperatures means that it is spring and summer is coming. In autumn just the opposite with shorter days letting the tree know that winter is coming. The fact that the tree can compare yesterday's temperature and day length to today, further supports the fact that they have a memory.
Family
People – People recognize their family members and react differently to strangers. People from extended families will often join with other families to form a community.
Trees – Researchers have discovered that trees also recognize their seedlings and siblings and react differently to trees from a different parent. Beeches and oaks form forests that last for thousands of years because they act like families in a community. The Pando aspen clone, also known as the 'trembling giant' lives in the Fishlake National Forest in Utah. It is a huge underground singular root system that sends up tens of thousands of clone aspen trees, each one genetically identical to the next, over an area of more than 100 acres. It is considered to be the largest single family and organism in the world.
Like people, trees are extremely social creatures, dependent on each other for their survival. And, as it is with people, communication is key.
Avoiding Danger
People – People have learned to stay a safe distance away from someone who may have an infectious disease and it is called “social distancing” People also stay away from potentially dangerous animals and reptiles and getting into potentially harmful activities.
Trees – The arboreal version of social distancing is called crown shyness. Trees have learned to stop growing at their tips when any new foliage will be stripped away by other existing branches. Wind plays a crucial role in helping many trees maintain this distance. Trees keep their branches apart to allow other branches equal access to sunlight. The boundaries carved between branches also improve the tree's access to curb the spread of leaf eating insects, parasitic vines, or infectious disease.
Survival of the Species
People and Trees – People have survived because of intelligence and mobility. Their goal is also to survive and reproduce. However, the complexity of trees is not appreciated by humans so people are destroying trees at a rapid rate. Without trees to cool the planet and give off oxygen, all the animals that rely on trees, including the human race, would disappear from the planet. In addition, the high amount of carbon in the air from burning fossil fuels is replacing the oxygen needed for all animals to survive. However, trees and plants will survive as they did for millions of years before people and animals roamed the planet. Unless climate change and global warming are reversed, survival beyond the next 200 years is where the similarities between trees and people will end because of the heat and abundance of carbon dioxide.
Trees – Trees have lived on Planet Earth for billions of years. Trees also live longer, grow taller, and become more massive than any living organism ever to inhabit the Earth. Throughout the planet, the goal of all living plants and creatures has been to survive and reproduce.
Competition
People – People and families compete for land area instead of competing for sunlight. When families get large. enough to create a village, they will compete for more land in order to become larger than neighboring families. This competition can sometimes lead to war.
Trees – Instead of competing for land, trees compete for access to sunlight. They will compete with other trees to grow faster in order to become larger than neighboring trees. The largest tree will then grow until it declines and younger trees will then compete for the sunlight space. The largest tree might be what humans call a Champion Tree, but the tree does not know this.
Conclusion
Hopefully this study provides a new perspective on the relationship between trees and people. People should care about trees because of the wonders they present to us. We are all part of nature and we are all made in a way that we can survive only with the help of other living beings. All living creatures are born, live, reproduce, and die, while the animal and plant families and survivors have the potential to live on forever. Does that mean we should stop killing trees for paper, heat, and shelter? No, but we should try to not waste this precious resource and if we are going to cut a tree down, we should do it with dignity, care, and consideration of its emotions. Then go out and plant another tree.
The author would appreciate your thoughts on this article and would really appreciate other comparisons that you know about.
Sources
Intelligent Behavior
People – Intelligence has led people to extract fossil fuels, destroy trees, plunder civilizations and kill off
other lifeforms because of greed and superiority.
Trees – Their main focus is to survive and make their environment and the entire globe more suitable for survival of their seedlings. (Perhaps trees are more intelligent than humans.)
People – Humans have intelligence as expressed in the ability to understand, adapt, and interact with other people as well as caring for the environment in an intelligent manner.
Trees – Trees are also capable of intelligent behavior, in the same way that bees and ants have intelligence. Once bees locate a source of nectar in a tree's flower, they can communicate that location to other bees in the hive by passing out samples of nectar and doing a “dance” that tells the other bees the tree's location. Trees recognize that flower color and fragrance attract bees who pollinate the tree's flowers and this response results in continuing the species. What mankind calls a response, is really a tree using its intelligence.
People – Humans also have an intelligent behavior that is the autonomic nervous system governing our breathing, heart beat, and digestive processes for example, which operate most of the time without instructions from the brain.
Trees – The ability to adapt and interact with the environment is a definition of intelligence and by this definition, trees are intelligent. Trees also have autonomic functions that occur automatically by the way water flows up the tree from the roots to the leaves. Trees use sunlight to mix with water and nutrients gathered by the roots, and pushed to the leaves for the manufacture of the food called sugar.
Sensors
People – People have a brain and use it for learning and memory and to communicate with other humans using their voice, touch, writing, and at the present time, by electronics. Human communication is obvious to other humans but communication between people and trees and vice versa, is not yet fully understood. People are able to communicate with animals, but animals have very limited ability to communicate to humans (although many dog and cat owners might disagree).
Trees – Brains are considered a whole function as the centralized command centers for most creatures in the animal kingdom. In the plant kingdom the tree's root tips seem to be the center of a tree's function. There does not appear to be any command post; but rather, there is a leaderless network, that works together to solve problems and gather the materials needed to produce food for growth and survival.
People – Intelligence is the ability to solve problems, remember things, and it is obvious that a person is intelligent and has a brain. People can use the 86 billion neurons in the human brain to solve problems and survive. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate have been found in humans. Having a single brain and a single heart and a single pair of lungs make humans feel superior in intelligence and survivability.
In addition, people have sensor on the surface layer of skin. These sensors allow people to react to the sense of feeling and the sense of touching, temperature, etc. While a tree root will react to a rock in the way of further movement, a person will react the same way by responding to touching something very hot.
Trees – Trees do not have a single, large brain but reactions within signaling pathways provide a biochemical basis for learning and memory. Trees are currently assumed to have a mini-brain or sensor at the tip of each root. The combination of millions of root tips can add up to the equivalent of a very large brain. Trees are capable of discriminating positive and negative experiences and of 'learning' (registering memories) from their past experiences. Trees use this information to update their behavior in order to survive the present and future challenges to their environment.
A tree's memory can be tested most visibly by-passing drops of water over a mimosa leaf. At first the leaf recoils, but as the tree learns that the water drops are not harmful, it stops recoiling. The mimosa will remember the harmless water drops long into the future, but still recoil to the touch of a human finger or an insect.
The latest research indicates that an area of excitable cells is in the root tip or in the region of elongation, just behind the root tip that acts like a tiny brain. The sensors in the root tip enable the growing root to change direction to go around an obstacle or to find water and nutrients. In some cases, the root tip will alter course before it hits an underground obstacle, showing that trees are capable of “sensing or seeing” an obstacle in the soil. Researchers have predicted there may be something like a “brain” in root tips or region of elongation that has yet to be discovered.
One root tip may not be able to do much, but most trees have millions of individual roots and rootlets, each with a single root tip. Instead of a single large brain like people, trees may have millions of small brains or sensors that work together in a complex, leaderless network. The proof of this observation is that a tree can survive and continue growing even after losing 95% or more of its roots during transplanting.
Trees have no single sensor, not because they lack intelligence, but because they would be vulnerable to an easy death and not be able to survive on this planet for millions of years more than humans have. The destruction of one leaf or one root, does not mean the death of the entire tree or even cause a visible impact on the tree. (The destruction of one human heart or brain means the death to the entire person.)
Signals given off from the radical or root tip are the same signals as those from neurons in the human brain. Neurotransmitters such as serotonin, dopamine, and glutamate have been found in trees and people. Scientists have observed that roots search for the best location to take in water, avoid competition, and absorb essential nutrients.
Researchers have also discovered that tree roots can pass messages from one tree to the next. Symbiotic relationships established by fungi that live in the soil along tree roots have the job of keeping trees alive and sending messages from one tree to another. Instead of words, trees use chemical, hormonal, slow pulsing and electronic signals to communicate with other trees.
Senses
People – Humans have five senses--taste, smell, sight, touch, and sound or hearing. They use these senses to function and survive. Like trees, people respond to the same environmental variables plus life processes and distribution of organisms in the context of the environment.
Trees – Trees have at least 20 different senses used to monitor complex conditions in their environment. They have senses that can do such things as measure humidity, detect gravity and sense electromagnetic fields. Trees smell and taste chemicals in the air or on their leaves and branches. They react differently to various wavelengths of light as well as to shadow. The sound of caterpillars chewing leaves will prime a tree to produce defense chemicals while the sound of flowing water produces a positive response. Recent research as proven that trees can also react to other sounds.
Response to Sound
People – With their ears, people can hear sounds which are actually the transmission and interpretation of vibrations that pass through the air.
Trees – Within three minutes of sensing vibrations from a pollinators’ wings, trees can temporarily increase the concentration of sugar by as much as 20 percent in their flowers’ nectar. A sweeter treat for pollinators draws in more insects, thus increasing the chances of successful pollination. In effect, the flowers themselves are serving as ears, picking up the specific frequencies of insect wings while tuning out irrelevant sounds like wind. Although flowers vary widely in shape and size, a good many are somewhat concave shaped which makes them perfect for receiving and amplifying sound waves, much like the human ear or a megaphone.
Thigmomorphogenesis
People – Continuous massage will alter bone growth in a child. For example, a child that has one leg shorter than the other can undergo massage therapy treatments to equalize the growth rate. It is irreversible.
Trees – The regular rubbing or bending of stems by wind or continuously passing animals, inhibits elongation and stimulates their radial expansion, resulting in shorter, stockier trees. Researchers discovered that a constant wind on a growing tree will result in the trunk developing an oval cross-section to provide extra strength to the tree as it struggles to remain growing upward. It is irreversible.
Communication
People – A person's message can be transmitted instantly by voice, writing, actions, eye contact, and by electronic means. The speed of transmission is the biggest difference.
Trees – A tree's message can be transmitted by chemical, hormonal, pheromone, and slow pulsing impulses. An electrical impulse pass through the tree's tissues at the rate of 1/3 inch (8 mm) per second.
People – People, especially women have maternal instincts that are physical and emotional bonds between a mother and a child. There is a gravitational pull from a mother to her child. People also have feelings for one another and they protect the people, especially children, around them. People like the feeling of being warm, cuddled and having a foot massage.
Trees – Trees also have a maternal instinct as they try to choose to where their seeds may fall to the ground, in the forest. The mother tree is surrounded by her children whom she protects from the time the seeds germinate until they are all growing closely, around her. Trees also have feelings and enjoy the feeling of fungi on their roots.
People – People can detect odors through their nose.
Trees – Trees can detect odors through their leaf stomata.
People – A neuron or nerve cell, is an electrically excitable cell that communicates with other cells via specialized connections called synapses. A single neuron may be connected to many other neurons and the total number of neurons and connections in a network may be extensive. Movement such as slapping a mosquito on the arm is the response to a bug bite.
Trees – Researchers of tree communications have gathered environmental information and determined that it is processed, integrated, and shared to enable adaptive and coordinated responses to pest attacks. Communication is observed in a tree within and between cells, between trees of the same or related species, and between trees and non-plant organisms including fungi and microorganisms, especially in the root zone.
Trees do not have a brain but do have a neuronal network of sensors in each and every root hair. A neuron is a grayish or reddish granular cell that is the fundamental functional unit of nervous tissue transmitting and receiving nerve impulses and having cytoplasmic processes which are highly differentiated frequently as multiple dendrites or usually as solitary axons which conduct impulses to and away from the cell body. A biological neural network is composed of groups of chemically connected or functionally associated neurons. Reactions within signaling pathways provide a biochemical basis for learning and memory. This means there is communication among trees and it is being called the “wood wide web”. It is the connections of soil fungi and mycorrhizae that connect vegetation in an intimate network that allows the sharing of an enormous amount of information and goods, all of which can spread twice the distance of a branch in the crown. This information is sent by electrical impulses through the root/fungal systems as well as by chemical compounds and hormonal signals to determine which trees need more nitrogen, phosphorus and carbon, and which trees have extra to share.
Can trees really “talk” to each other? Of course not, but they do communicate among themselves by linking their roots together and using the mycorrhizal network in the soil. But mankind has not yet learned their language. Are trees thinking or are they adapting and reacting to their environment? Arborists should be reading the signals from trees and trying to understand what the tree is communicating to us.
Recent research has shown that most of the microorganism/tree communication processes are neuron-like. Trees communicate via electrical impulses and when one tree is exposed to plant eating behavior, it sends out a warning to neighboring trees. The trees can also produce other soil microbes to attract parasites which attack the plant eating pests. Trees can also produce chemicals that alter the taste of their leaves which discourage pests from eating their leaves.
Researchers are also aware of instances of tree communication through the air, in which chemical pheromones emitted by the leaves of a damaged tree can be picked up by the leaves of a neighboring tree. Trees are capable of refined recognition of self and non-self and are territorial in behavior. Trees can also activate sensory responses and behavioral events that are 'remembered' in order to prevent future activities upon the basis of past experiences. Although it is not a tree, the commonly known Venus fly trap (Dionaea muscipula) is a carnivorous plant that has these same characteristics.
One researcher has discovered that trees are able to pass their legacy on to their seedlings. Trees are as sophisticated in behavior as animals but this sophistication is masked by the time it takes trees to respond to stimuli, which is much slower (1/3 inch per second) than a person's instant response time. Messages are transmitted through a “fiber-optic” type network (traveling at 10,000 megabits per second) scientists are now calling the “wood-wide-web”. (A computer processes one million megabits per second.) A tree's stomata can produce and receive odors. So trees have a sense of smell and taste and can relay information to other trees about animals eating a tree's leaves or insects causing a disease. Trees will communicate with other trees if they are being attacked, so the neighboring trees can establish defenses before they are attacked. The defenses can be as simple as leaving a bad taste in their leaves to discourage leaf eating animals.
What mankind calls a response, is really a tree using its intelligence. However, other scientists say that when trees respond to stimuli in an automatic way by secreting hormones that affect their growth etc. it has nothing to do with intelligence.
Learning
People – People learn from experiences and use this memory based on its experience to deal with future events. People also have the ability to learn from other people through communication.
Trees – Trees communicate with other trees by transmitting messages through their root connections and through mycorrhizal connections in the soil. This is most noticeable when a tree is being attacked by a pest and the trees all around the infested tree have been notified to send out defenses or toxins against the pest.
A tree 'knows' what it needs to be healthy and acts accordingly, so there is a 'tree intelligence'. Trees know when to bloom so they will be properly pollinated by their preferred pollinator. They know what to do to prevent a pest attack from causing death if they are familiar with the pest.
In late spring, after trees have gotten used to having an ample supply of water, they do not stop demanding
water until the tension in the drying wood becomes too much and the bark splits open, which pains the tree. The following year, the tree has learned a lesson and the tree assumes a more conservative approach and keeps water consumption at a reduced level, despite there being an abundance of soil water available. In other situations, where water is limited all the time, the trees are growing slower, but they are thriving because there are no bark splits to deal with and they have learned how to conserve what water they do have.
Another example of how trees use their memory or learning occurs when a tree has been removed from the forest, for any reason. The remaining trees will try to grow fast to take advantage of the additional sunlight coming into the forest. These same remaining trees will also have to deal with insufficient roots to provide stability when the winds blow. This unexpected movement causes micro-tears along the trunk. A considerable amount of energy is required to make the repairs and thicken the trunk, and this takes energy away from the goal of being the first tree to fill in the hole in the canopy created by the lost tree. All of these efforts point to the fact that trees can learn.
Counting
People – People obviously know how to count and do mathematical calculations.
Trees – Trees also know how to count. For example, during a winter thaw, the trees do not open up their buds to start spring growth. Instead they count the number of days after the first warm spring day and they begin spring growth based on the same number of days from first warmth to bud break as the last spring. Growing new leaves is based on the number of warm days, the temperature, and how long the days are.
Stress
People – Stress in people can alter the molecular wrapping around the chromosomes which, in turn, determines which genes will be silenced and which genes will be expressed. This so-called “epigenetic” effect can persist and sometimes be passed down to a person's offspring. People who live in the city suffer more stress than people living among trees.
Trees – Trees suffer with stress from physical, pathological, and mostly climatic factors. Urban trees suffer more than trees in the forest. Trees have defense and recovery strategies in their dealings with stress. They are frequently misunderstood by people who cause undue stress and harm to trees.
Dependence
People – People depend on trees and plants for the production of oxygen necessary for human survival and providing some calming of the world's climate. People also utilize a tree's wood for fuel and shelter. Some experts say that providing rights to trees and plants is a way to prevent our extinction. People inherit the infrastructure of past communities.
Trees – Trees drive many of the biophysical forces that make the Earth habitable for humans. Trees need mankind and animals for their production of carbon dioxide which is a raw material used by trees as part of the tree's manufacture of oxygen and sugar during photosynthesis. Trees survive despite mankind's actions of burning fossil fuels, deforestation, habitat destruction, pollution, climate change, rapid increases in carbon dioxide levels, etc. Trees and plants drive many of the biophysical forces that make the Earth habitable for humans. Trees inherit the infrastructure of past forests.
Superiority
People – People feel superior to all other living creatures on the planet. They are the most intelligent and have the most strength of any other plant or animal. They have the ability to kill whatever stands in the way to their superiority.
Trees – Trees feel superior to all other living plants, especially those growing in the forest. They use their intelligence to absorb 97% of all sunlight in the forest. The remaining 3% of the sunlight will be wasted or used by small groundcover plants.
Smell
People – All creatures can communicate with odor. People have noses with which they can smell good and bad odors. In people, odor molecules are recognized by receptors on the outside of cells in the nose and immediately trigger a signaling pathway to recognize the odor and respond to it. When people smell something nice, they are attracted to it, but when it smells bad, they stay away. People especially like the smell of flowers on trees as well as the smell of wood and bark.
Trees – All trees can communicate with odor. Trees have odor detection systems in their leaf stoma and can detect different fragrances and odors. Trees have a class of odor molecules known as volatile organic compounds, which are essential for many tree survival strategies including dealing with pests. With an ability to smell using these compounds, trees can identify a pest by the smell of saliva left on a partially eaten leaf. If a pest is harming the tree and the tree is familiar with the pest, it will produce toxins to make the leaves smell bad or have a bitter taste or kill the pest. The odor molecules can also move into cells and accumulate as necessary to attract birds that will eat the pests. These compounds also give essential oils their distinctive scents and all trees know that the sweet smelling perfume in a flower will attract bees and other insects to pollinate their flowers and ensure the tree's survival for many generations to come, and this is good communication.
Pheromones
People – People produce pheromones that are airborne chemical messengers released from the body through sweat and urine that have a physical or emotional effect on other people.
Trees – Trees have can identify a pest by a pheromone message left by the pest and will produce toxins to make the leaves have a bitter taste or kill the pest. When leaves are being eaten by pests, the tree also gives off a pheromone message that warns other trees in the forest of the danger. These other trees pump toxins into their leaves to discourage the pests from coming to their tree. If the pest is an introduction from somewhere beyond where the tree and the pest grew up, it is not likely the tree will have a defense. For example, the Dutch elm disease was able to kill many American elms.
Screaming
People – People scream when they are confronted by a problem they feel will cause them harm. When people scream, wind from the diaphragm flows over vocal cords.
Trees – When trees are really thirsty, they also “scream” when they feel this problem may cause them harm. However, the scream is taking place at ultra-sonic levels which scientists have detected, but human ears have not heard. The trees' scream occurs when air bubbles have replaced the flow of water in the tree trunk and the tree screams its need for water to stay alive and healthy.
Survival
People – People communicate with other people to obtain comfort, food, and shelter as needed during the process of living. When people die, all parts of the body cease to function.
Trees – Tree roots often continue to live after a tree dies or is cut down because the roots are connected to other living trees and the sugars from the live trees are shared with all the trees connected to the underground wood-wide web network. There are many examples discovered by scientists that tree roots have transferred carbon and carbon products from living trees through living tree stumps, which continue the transfer of products to other living trees in need. They give each other space to grow and do not block the sunlight to the neighboring trees. They cooperate with other trees in the forest to moderate the weather. For example, in China, a 1,500-year-old Ginkgo was struck by lightning in 1976, causing a fire which burned the tree down to the stump. It had no sign of life for decades, but during the spring of 2001 it miraculously came to life again and grew leaves from the remaining stump. Today the tree is still alive and growing very well.
Shelter
People – People's home provides them shelter and is likely to be damaged less within the wind buffered congestion of a city than in a single home all by itself on an open lot. Houses can be built on the leeward side of a hill or a forest to minimize damage from consistent severe winds. Houses built in areas of high winds are better built with concrete and steel.
Trees – An individual tree that is subjected to high winds on the whole tree is more likely to be damaged than trees in a forest where all the trees act as a unit and if any problem occurs it is just the treetops or individual limbs that might be damaged while most of the trees remain intact. Trees also have certain weak branches that are attached with co-dominant crotches so when there is a severe windstorm, one of the two branches break away to reduce wind resistance and prevent damage to the entire tree.
People – People have learned that if they are outside in the wind that if they stand sideways against the wind there is less pressure to blow them over.
Trees – Trees are also able to brace themselves against constant winds. Researchers have discovered that trees will grow thinner sides parallel to the direction of constant winds which makes them narrower and less resistant to the wind in the direction of the constant prevailing winds. They are also thicker on the side of the prevailing wind which provides extra strength to stand up against the wind.
Singular Life
People – People who live alone are not as healthy nor live as long as those who live and communicate within a community. People need people to be happy and help others in need. In addition, people with no access to nature and trees, are not as healthy as people living with trees all around them.
Trees – Trees that are growing in cities have roots that may have been damaged when the tree was dug. Trees that were installed in proximity to city sidewalks are surrounded by soil that is so compact that roots cannot penetrate it. These isolated trees are subject to pests and diseases without the warning and the communication that the trees in the forest provide each other. The urban compact soil also hinders rapid and healthy tree growth. These situations prevent trees from being happy and developing a communication network with other trees. Trees growing in the forest are happy and healthy because they are part of the forest community and the communication network making them likely to live twice as long.
People – When people get sick there are hospitals in the community where other people help the sick person get well with support and nourishment to help with the recovery.
Trees – Trees will naturally form a community within the forest and every tree is considered valuable. When one tree gets sick all the other trees provide support and nourishment to help with the recovery.
Biological Clock
People – People have a biological clock system in the body that controls when a person needs to sleep, eat, wake-up without an alarm clock, etc. Biological clocks are found in nearly every tissue and organ of every living being on the planet.
Trees – A tree's biological clock is coupled with the ability to perceive light. This allows trees to measure the time of the day and also the season of the year. This is how trees know when to flower, change leaf color in autumn, or drop their leaves before winter begins. The seeds of many trees sprout only after they are exposed to enough light to alert the seed that it is springtime. Trees are also able to sense the quality of light and respond appropriately. The tree has light sensors in their leaves, in the bark, in their buds, and in their seeds. The sensors can trigger growth of new leaves or flowers, or trigger dormancy at the end of the season.
Trees also use a combination of temperatures and day length to determine the season. Longer days and warming temperatures means that it is spring and summer is coming. In autumn just the opposite with shorter days letting the tree know that winter is coming. The fact that the tree can compare yesterday's temperature and day length to today, further supports the fact that they have a memory.
Family
People – People recognize their family members and react differently to strangers. People from extended families will often join with other families to form a community.
Trees – Researchers have discovered that trees also recognize their seedlings and siblings and react differently to trees from a different parent. Beeches and oaks form forests that last for thousands of years because they act like families in a community. The Pando aspen clone, also known as the 'trembling giant' lives in the Fishlake National Forest in Utah. It is a huge underground singular root system that sends up tens of thousands of clone aspen trees, each one genetically identical to the next, over an area of more than 100 acres. It is considered to be the largest single family and organism in the world.
Like people, trees are extremely social creatures, dependent on each other for their survival. And, as it is with people, communication is key.
Avoiding Danger
People – People have learned to stay a safe distance away from someone who may have an infectious disease and it is called “social distancing” People also stay away from potentially dangerous animals and reptiles and getting into potentially harmful activities.
Trees – The arboreal version of social distancing is called crown shyness. Trees have learned to stop growing at their tips when any new foliage will be stripped away by other existing branches. Wind plays a crucial role in helping many trees maintain this distance. Trees keep their branches apart to allow other branches equal access to sunlight. The boundaries carved between branches also improve the tree's access to curb the spread of leaf eating insects, parasitic vines, or infectious disease.
Survival of the Species
People and Trees – People have survived because of intelligence and mobility. Their goal is also to survive and reproduce. However, the complexity of trees is not appreciated by humans so people are destroying trees at a rapid rate. Without trees to cool the planet and give off oxygen, all the animals that rely on trees, including the human race, would disappear from the planet. In addition, the high amount of carbon in the air from burning fossil fuels is replacing the oxygen needed for all animals to survive. However, trees and plants will survive as they did for millions of years before people and animals roamed the planet. Unless climate change and global warming are reversed, survival beyond the next 200 years is where the similarities between trees and people will end because of the heat and abundance of carbon dioxide.
Trees – Trees have lived on Planet Earth for billions of years. Trees also live longer, grow taller, and become more massive than any living organism ever to inhabit the Earth. Throughout the planet, the goal of all living plants and creatures has been to survive and reproduce.
Competition
People – People and families compete for land area instead of competing for sunlight. When families get large. enough to create a village, they will compete for more land in order to become larger than neighboring families. This competition can sometimes lead to war.
Trees – Instead of competing for land, trees compete for access to sunlight. They will compete with other trees to grow faster in order to become larger than neighboring trees. The largest tree will then grow until it declines and younger trees will then compete for the sunlight space. The largest tree might be what humans call a Champion Tree, but the tree does not know this.
Conclusion
Hopefully this study provides a new perspective on the relationship between trees and people. People should care about trees because of the wonders they present to us. We are all part of nature and we are all made in a way that we can survive only with the help of other living beings. All living creatures are born, live, reproduce, and die, while the animal and plant families and survivors have the potential to live on forever. Does that mean we should stop killing trees for paper, heat, and shelter? No, but we should try to not waste this precious resource and if we are going to cut a tree down, we should do it with dignity, care, and consideration of its emotions. Then go out and plant another tree.
The author would appreciate your thoughts on this article and would really appreciate other comparisons that you know about.
Sources
- Special thanks to Edzard Teubert for his additional information and his excellent editing.
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